Unexpected Variables
by Some1tookmyname
Summary: Sometimes the things you think you know aren't true at all. I made it a T in case I feel the need for some well placed swearing. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Angst alert and looky here! It's not a one shot! Just something bouncing around in my yet again sleep deprived head. All mistakes are mine, Booth and Brennan are not.

**Unexpected Variables**

He really didn't care how unprofessional it looked.

He really didn't care how unprofessional it _was._

All he cared about was her and that she was alive in his arms. It had been way too close this time.

They stood at the crime scene, physically wrapped up in each other and he was fairly sure he wasn't ever going to let her go. The scene was supposed to be secure. Clearly, it was not.

His breath shuddered and his heartbeat began pounding harder both in his ears and his ribcage when he caught another look at her bag, the one with the bullet hole in it, and he realized just how close it had really been.

She realized it, too. "Don't, Booth. I'm okay. I'm right here." She soothed. She'd nearly been caught in a spray of bullets and she was trying to calm him. Their dynamic was one few people would understand.

"By the grace of God." he whispered into her hair.

"Because of my laptop." Ever practical, his Bones. "The bullet hit my bag, my computer stopped the bullet. I'm okay." But she made no move to disentangle herself from his embrace.

"It was too close, Baby." His voice was raw under the weight of his feelings.

"I know." This time it was she who strengthened her hold, her voice cracking a little.

"No more. No more field work. No more crime scenes. Please, Bones. Please."

She nodded into his shoulder. "Okay." Her willingness to give in spoke volumes about how much it frightened her, too. "Okay." She said again, her fingers stroking the hair at the nape of his neck.

He loosened one hand and began to run it over her body, starting at the top of the back her head, down her neck, to the top of her back, letting the ends of her hair trail out from under his fingertips. Reverently, slowly, almost like he was counting her vertebrae, he skimmed his palm down past her shoulder blades, to the space at the small of her back, _his _space and drew her in even closer. He just needed to be sure she was still there with him.

"Booth?" she lifted her head to whisper directly into his ear. "It's alright now. I'm fine. The baby is fine. We are fine. It's time to work." She needed him to regroup so she could, too.

"Yeah. Okay." He took a deep breath and let it out shakily. He kissed her hair, just above her ear and, against every instinct he had, he let her step out of his arms.

It was only when she stepped back and tried to shake it off that she realized that while she was okay, he was not.

A blood red stain was crawling it's way up his shirt and the last thing he heard before he blacked out was her screaming his name as he fell to the ground.

_~Thanks for reading. I appreciate your reviews._


	2. Chapter 2

_I was going to pull a Hart Hanson and skip ahead, but I just can't do it. So you get all the filler too. I know these initial chapters are short. That will change as we get into the story. Thank __**Mimssio**__ for the quick update. I don't like to be glared at. ;)_

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 2**

It seemed as though everyone at the scene came running. Brennan would wonder later if it had to do with her screaming Booth's name or more to do with the fact that they'd all been watching them already. She'd been aware they were likely quite the spectacle; the FBI Agent and his partner holding on to each other for all they were worth.

But right now, at this moment, she didn't care. She was just glad they were there. The paramedics instantly went to work, agents roped off the scene within the crimescene and Cam was beside her, immediately uttering words of reassurance.

"I didn't know. I don't think he knew. He was talking to me and he was fine and then…" Brennan couldn't say exactly what she meant and thankfully, Cam didn't need a translator.

"I'm sure it was the adrenaline that kept him going. Eventually it crashes and reality kicks in. But Booth is strong and I don't think he could have gone as long as he did without passing out if the bullet had hit anything major. I'm sure he's going to be fine."

She couldn't know for sure, of course, and Brennan knew that, but it still helped. She watched as the medics attached monitors and inserted needles. She wanted to look away, to pretend it wasn't real, but she wasn't wired like that. She needed to make her own judgments, her own assessments. She was only vaguely aware that Cam was still talking to her.

"Dr. Brennan!" Cam had asked her something.

"I'm sorry, what?" Brennan didn't take her eyes off Booth as they lifted him onto a stretcher.

"I'm worried about you. I want you to get checked out, too."

"I'm fine. I...I have to go with Booth." They were wheeling him towards the ambulance and she intended to ride with them.

"Dr. Brennan," Cam was asserting her I'm-the-boss voice, though it was out of friendship, not rank pulling. "I need to be sure you and the baby are alright."

"I'll…I'll get checked at the hospital." She began to follow Booth and the medics to the ambulance. "I have to go with him."

"Ma'am you can't"

"What?" Brennan stopped short.

The paramedic was kind, but firm. "I can't let you in here. We need all the space. We're taking him to County. You can follow."

"But…"

"Come on. I'll take you." Cam took her arm and started directing her towards her car. "And this way I can be sure you do get checked out. I don't want Booth on my back when he finds out I didn't take care of you." She was trying desperately to stay positive, and not just for Brennan.

Brennan allowed Cam to steer her body in the right direction, but her eyes never left the ambulance, even when she had to turn and look over her shoulder to see it.

The door to the back closed, the sirens began screaming and ambulance carrying the man she loved more than anyone went tearing away from the scene.

"Wait! Let's take Booth's car. We can use the siren." Brennan ran back to her bag, the one with the bullet hole, and dug out the extra keys, ignoring protests from other agents about evidence and crime scene preservation. This time, she didn't care about those things.

Cam took the keys and drove dangerously fast in the direction of County Hospital, sirens blazing, casting anxious, quick glances at the anthropologist next to her.

"Dr. Brennan, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine."

"I just want to make sure you aren't in shock."

"I know the signs of shock. I am not currently exhibiting any symptoms. I just want to get to the hospital."

"I'm doing my best." She wasn't being defensive, but rather reassuring.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm just…anxious."

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Cam would have laughed. Booth, this woman's partner in work and life, the father of her child, had been pretty seriously wounded in a hail of bullets and the forensic anthropologist was "anxious." Certainly, the understatement of the decade. Cam herself was anxious. What this woman was most certainly feeling on the inside probably couldn't be described with words.

Cam pushed her foot on the gas pedal just a little bit harder and hoped that the agent she'd asked to call Angela had done so. She had a feeling Brennan's friend was going to be needed.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 3**

In the end it was Hodgins who was the most useful.

Brennan and Cam did not so much register as more than a blip on the ER nurse's radar. The woman had seen it all, really. County Hospital was a one stop fix 'em shop for just about every trauma you could imagine and two women who could stand on their own feet and had been in the general vicinity of gunfire really didn't add up to an emergency in the nurse's book.

"Please, I need to know about a patient who just came in by ambulance. Seeley Booth. He's an FBI agent. It was a gunshot wound…" Brennan hated those words coming out of her mouth. Saying it out loud made it feel much more precarious.

"I'm sure when there is news the doctor will be out to speak with you."

"Listen, she needs to be seen, as well. She's pregnant and was in the line of fire. Her partner was shot. I'm worried about shock, blood pressure…"

"What are her symptoms?"

"I don't have any. I'm fine. I need to know about my partner."

"Ma'am, I don't even have him on my computer yet. I have a GSW that just came in, but there is no information I can give you right now. Why don't you fill out this form? We'll get you looked at as soon as we can." She really couldn't have been less interested in their story.

Cam grabbed the clip board from the nurse in a manner that made her irritation clear and ushered Brennan to the waiting area. Doing a quick sweep with her eyes of all the people slumped in chairs and corners and against walls, she knew it would be hours before Brennan would see a doctor. She hadn't been joking before when she said that Booth would be on her back if she didn't take care of Brennan. This simply would not do. Not at all.

"I'm going to see if I can get you seen sooner." Cam said, as they found only one available seat and she motioned for Brennan to take it. "I'll call Paul and see if he knows anyone over here." She handed Brennan the clipboard. "I'll be right back."

"I'm not concerned about me. I'm fine, Cam."

"Right. I know. But if Booth were standing here right now he'd want you to get checked out and he'd be driving that nurse insane until it happened." She put a hand on Brennan's shoulder. "Let me do this. There is nothing I can do for him except take care of you and your baby. You know Booth would want you to be sure that everything's fine." She knew Seeley Booth well enough to know what he'd want and she knew Temperance Brennan well enough (she hoped) to know which buttons to push.

"Okay." Brennan acquiesced.

"Thank you." Cam meant it and made her way towards the doors to go outside and call her boyfriend for help.

Angela practically knocked her over on her way in.

If there was anyone who could sweep into a room it was Angela. Tall, fashionable and beautiful, it was nearly impossible not to notice her, especially in a room as dreary as County Hospital's waiting room. Even more so when she almost mowed you down.

"My god, Cam! What the hell happened? Where's Brennan?"

"She's right there." Cam motioned towards Brennan, who was not filling out her forms, but rather seemed lost in the expanse of her own thoughts. "I need to call Paul, see if there's an OB here he can pull a favor from and get her looked at."

"Is she alright?" Hodgins had come in right behind Angela and his blue eyes reflected the concern in Angela's.

"She says she is, physically and she seems to be. And if it was just her, I'd let it go, but…"

"No, yeah. Of course. Go make your phone call. We'll sit with her." Angela made her way to her best friend.

"Thanks for calling us." Hodgins grimaced. "Seems like we all end up in places like this way too often."

"It sure does." Cam, for the first time, felt the gravity of the situation threaten to overwhelm her. "I have to…" Tears began to swim in her eyes.

"Yeah." Hodgins squeezed her elbow and then went to join his wife and Brennan.

"Bren?" Angela had glared her way into the seat next to her friend, the former occupant rather cowed by the tall artist's evil eye. "Sweetie, what happened?"

The couple could see Brennan physically attempt to pull herself together. She straightened her shoulders, set her jaw and swallowed hard to attempt to steady her voice before she answered. "There was a drive-by shooting at the scene. A bullet hit my bag. I didn't know Booth had been hit. He seemed fine. He was making sure I wasn't hurt and then…and then…"

"Did he pass out?" Angela knew she'd have to fill in the blanks.

Brennan nodded. "There was a lot of blood. I'm not sure where he was hit, exactly."

"What have they told you?" Hodgins asked.

"Nothing. The nurse at the front said a doctor would come out when there was something to tell." She swiped furiously at the tears that had escaped down her cheeks. "We just have to wait."

"That's totally bogus." muttered Hodgins.

"Bren, it's okay to be upset. You love him and he's hurt. It's totally understandable."

Brennan allowed herself to crumble a little. "Ange…I can't…"

"Don't. Don't go there. He's Booth. He'll be fine, right Hodgins?" Angela looked to her husband for support in all things. This was no exception.

"Yeah. Dude's got more lives than a cat. He's going to come through like he always does." Hodgins attempted what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile.

"Cam is trying to see if there is an OB here who can check you and the baby out, make sure you're both alright. That way you can tell Booth as soon as he's awake that everything's fine."

"I…I wasn't hit by any gunfire."

"Honey, how did you get that lucky?"

"I told you, my bag…oh. Oh! Booth pushed me down. I landed…" Now the fear in her eyes took full hold. "I landed on my side, not my stomach, but…"

"Right. Okay. Well, hopefully Paul will come through for Cam and we can make sure the baby is happy and healthy in there. And if Paul can't help, I'll just make Nurse Ratchet's life miserable until she finds a doctor to fit you in."

The small joke went over Brennan's head as Angela had figured it would. It was as much an attempt to sooth herself as it was to make her friend feel better. "Have you felt the baby move at all since this all started?"

"I haven't been paying attention. It's still so light when I do feel it…"

"Okay. Let's not panic. I didn't feel Michael at all until twenty-two weeks. You're only nineteen weeks. It's not unusual to not be feeling any movement."

Not for the first time, Brennan was glad Angela had been pregnant first. "Thank you."

"Sure." Angela took Brennan's hand as Cam approached.

"So there's a Dr. Newberg here. Paul knows him from med school. He's over in the second wing of the hospital, maternity ward. They've got a bed waiting for you."

"A bed? No!" Brennan's eyes flashed in fear and determination. "I can't leave. I have to be here. I'll just wait my turn here. I need to stay."

"It's not about you right now. It's about the baby. I'll go with you. Cam and Hodgins will stay here. They will call as soon as they know anything at all. It probably won't even take that long." Angela attempted to coax Brennan out of her chair.

"Family of Seeley Booth?" a voice called over the vague din of the waiting room and Brennan was up out of her seat, coaxing no longer necessary.

"That's me…that's us. How is he?" Her expression was a weary combination of fear and hopefulness that so many before her had worn as well. The doctor was nearly immune to it. Nearly.

"Are you his wife?"

"No. I'm his partner. Please…how is he?"

"I'm sorry. I can only speak to his family."

"Look, she's the mother of his child. His best friend in the world. That's gotta count for something, right?" Angela could not believe semantics were keeping the information under lock and key.

"I'm sorry. It's confidential information."

"I have his power of attorney. I'm supposed to make decisions for him when he is unable. He's my partner…." A sob escaped before she could stop it.

"Dr. Brennan, has Booth been here before? Would they have that on file somewhere?" Cam's brain was tripping over itself, trying to find a solution.

"Um, no, not here. Are you linked to other hospitals? George Washington maybe? They should have it on file." Brennan's mind was racing almost as fast as her heart.

"I'm sorry. Until I have some kind of proof I can't tell you anything." The doctor was not unsympathetic, but was still unwilling to break doctor/patient rules.

"Bren, where's the paperwork? We'll get it. Just tell me where it is."

"It's in my office. The file cabinet near the iguana."

Hodgins was already on the phone. "Is it locked?"

"Um, yes. The… the key is in my desk drawer in an empty mint tin. It's a file labeled 'Booth.'"

The doctor had turned to walk away, but Angela, fiercely loyal Angela, was not about to let him off so easily.

"Do you have someone in your life like that? Maybe a wife or a girlfriend? Someone who makes it worth getting up in the morning? Someone who makes your life better just because she's in it? That's what that man is to her. Please. Give her something she can hold on to. Please?"

Hodgins was at the front desk now with the previously disinterested admitting nurse who now looked very, very interested in what he had to say. The women couldn't hear the exact conversation. Angela picked up something about not accepting faxes for legal documents and Cam heard Hodgins say something about extending a courtesy. Brennan wasn't listening at all, but was unsuccessfully trying to steal a look at the chart the doctor held in his hands.

The doctor opened his mouth to deny her the information yet again when the entomologist interrupted him. "Wendell is faxing it over right now. Give it a minute." He pointed at the doctor. "Don't leave."

Sure enough, just a moment later the fax machine began to whir, with all the information required to allow one Dr. Temperance Brennan to make any and all medical decisions on Seeley Booth's behalf.

And it arrived with a cover sheet from the Cantilever Group that was worth more to the hospital than most of the papers underneath it.

Hodgins had had a card to play and he played it well. From that point on, they weren't going to be denied a thing.

"So," said the very wealthy scientist icily. "Tell her now. What's going on with Booth?"

_Reviews are lovely. Thank you._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you all for your reviews and alerts. They mean a lot._

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 4**

Most families of patients want generalities. The technical details are beyond their comprehension and only the most basic of information can get through the emotions. They don't want details. They want kind words and reassurance and survival percentages.

The doctor had never met a group of people quite like the one he'd just left. The one who said she was his partner wanted every last detail and when he began to give it all in layman's term she'd spit it back out at him in medical terms to be sure she understood what he meant. None of them seemed confused by the clinical words, in fact two of the women almost seemed to find comfort in the medical jargon. The man had nodded understandingly at most of the information and the last woman, though she was listening, was mostly watching the partner, basing her comprehension of the situation largely on the reaction of the pregnant woman.

He reached the unconscious FBI agent's bed and replaced the chart in it's proper place.

"That's quite a group of people you've got waiting for you, Agent Booth." He said, obviously not expecting a response. "Let's not disappoint them, shall we?" He motioned to the nurse. "Let's prep him. Where are we?"

"O.R. Two is free."

"Book it. We're going to fix this guy up better than he was before."

"Already booked, Doctor."

"Then I will get ready to scrub in."

* * *

><p>"Bren, the doctor said the surgery will take almost two hours. We should get you over to maternity and have you and the baby monitored."<p>

"He said it could take _up to _two hours, Angela. It could go faster. I have to be here."

"Even if it takes an hour, he'll go to recovery afterwards and it will be a while before he wakes up. Go with Angela. We'll call you if anything changes." Cam wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Brennan knew she was right. And in truth, she wanted to go and make sure the baby was alright. But she also didn't want to leave Booth. If the situation had been reversed, if she were undergoing surgery to repair a nick to her liver from a drive by shooting, to remove a bullet from her body, Booth would never leave. Ever.

"Dr B?" Hodgins searched for the right words. "As a dad….go. I'd want Angie to go. She's not mine first anymore. She's Michael's mom. That's more important than anything else. Booth will wake up and ask how you are. Both of you. You need to be able to tell him and you won't know if you don't go."

So she went.

A nurse much kinder than the ER nurse smiled sweetly upon her arrival and lead her to a small but cozy private room.

"You just make yourself comfortable. Kick off your shoes and lift your shirt. We'll get these monitors on you and listen to your baby, okay?"

Brennan smiled weakly. "Okay."

Angela held her hand as the nurse fastened the long Velcro straps around Brennan's belly and flipped on the machine.

There was no sound.

Angela covered their clasped hands with her other hand as Brennan's head began to spin.

This couldn't be real.

The nurse moved the monitor on her stomach a little bit.

And there it was.

The sound of a heartbeat. It was fast and sounded almost echo like, but it was unmistakable.

"There we go!" Smiled the nurse. "We don't always get it on the first try. Those babies like to float away on us sometimes."

Brennan barely heard her. She just listened.

For the first time through all of this, through gunfire and soothing and collapsing and emergency rooms and concerned friends and doctor/patient confidentiality and surgery and nicked organs and scary silences and baby heartbeats, Temperance Brennan allowed herself to really, truly cry.

Angela cried with her. It's what best friends do.

"The doctor would like to do an ultrasound to be sure that everything is as good as it sounds. He'll be in shortly."

Brennan could only nod and whisper "Thank you" and the nice nurse patted her leg as she left the room.

"Everything's fine, Brennan. For a night that started out so badly, this is all the best outcome we could have wanted."

"I feel very relieved." confessed Brennan, "But I won't feel good until I can talk with Booth."

"You will, very soon." Angela promised, though of course she couldn't really know. "He'll be out of surgery in the next…" she checked her watch "…ninety seven minutes and when he wakes up you can tell him that everything is perfect."

* * *

><p>Three hours later, clutching a sealed white envelope in one hand, the other hand on Booth's arm, she waited in a fairly comfy armchair by his bed for his brown eyes to open. And when they finally did, she was quite sure she'd never seen anything so beautiful.<p>

"Hey." She smiled at him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't. She grabbed a cup of water with a straw and held it to his lips. Then he tried again.

"Hey." It was feeble, and she had to lean in and listen well to be sure she heard him.

"The doctor says you're going to be fine. You were very lucky." For him she kept it simple. He wouldn't appreciate an anatomy lesson on just how close it had really been.

"Are…" he swallowed. "Are you okay?"

"I am now."

"The baby?"

"Also fine. Perfect, actually."

Had he not been dazed and drugged and exhausted he would have said more, but now that that the questions that had forced him out of his fog had been answered, he allowed himself to close his eyes and just be thankful.

"You sleep. I have a lot to tell you when you wake up." She kissed his forehead, tucking the envelope into her pocket for later.

_Reviews are appreciated, as always_.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you for following my story. This is totally separate from anything I've written otherwise. I don't link my stories, content wise. I've had a few people ask, so I thought I'd clear that up._

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 5**

He had insisted she go home.

She had insisted that she stay.

And so they were at one of their infamous impasses.

He didn't feel like it was good for her to be sleeping in an arm chair at nineteen weeks pregnant.

She said it was twenty weeks now and if he didn't want her sleeping in chairs next to his hospital bed then maybe he should stop getting shot.

He didn't bother to point out that wasn't at all rational. He valued his life and figured she could probably off him pretty easily in a hospital for calling her irrational.

She didn't bother to point out that he was being overprotective. Secretly it made her feel warm and safe, even though she was supposed to hate it.

And because they didn't exactly bicker quietly sometimes, when she came back from calling Pops with an update on Booth there was a second bed in his room and the armchair had been relegated to a far corner.

"Where did this come from?" She eyed it warily. "You are supposed to have a private room."

Booth opened one eye from his non-nap and said "It's for you."

"For me?" She looked doubtful.

"It's all about who you know." He crooked an eyebrow.

"And we know Hodgins." She concluded.

"And he told them to be nice to us."

"So you asked for a bed for me?"

"No, the nurses heard you arguing with me and apparently they think my over protectiveness is charming and sweet so they brought you a bed to make me feel better about your stubbornness."

"That is obviously not true. Clearly, they agree with me, but can understand that I need to appease my partner, so this is their solution."

"Whatever you say, Bones."

"Well, that's what I say."

It had only been forty eight hours and they were both going stir crazy. She was bristly and he was uncomfortable and they were taking it out on each other.

They both sighed. This was new for them. They had always bickered, but this had something behind it now and neither one of them could quite put their finger on what it was.

"Hey guys!" Lance Sweets knocked and opened the door at the same time, a habit that irritated Brennan.

"Sweets, either knock or let yourself in. What is the point of doing both?"

"Wow. Okay, is this a bad time?"

"Bones is just sick of being cooped up here with me."

"I'm not!"

"I could stay for a while if you want to take a break, Dr. Brennan."

Booth wasn't sure he was _that _desperate to stop bickering with Brennan, but she seemed to be considering it.

"I do have some things I have to do at the lab. I could be back in two hours." She looked at the clock. "Angela said she would come by around 7, it's 5:30 now."

"I don't need to be entertained. I'm a big boy."

"Hey, I don't mind at all." Sweets tried not to be offended that Booth didn't seem too excited to spend time with him, so he threw out a promise. "I promise not to 'shrink you' while Dr. Brennan is gone." He waggled is fingers for air quotes.

"That sounds like a satisfactory arrangement." She smiled at Booth. "I'll be back. Can I bring you anything?"

"A milkshake?"

He looked so hopeful she had to laugh a little. "I'll ask the nurse." She pulled her jacket off the back of the chair, the white envelope crinkling a little as she stuck her hand in for her keys.

Yes, there was still that. So far, the timing had not been right.

As she made her way to the car she realized she'd been struggling. Somewhere along the way, at some point in her years with Booth, she had learned to recognize when she had something to sort through. She didn't actually have any pressing work at the lab, but she needed time. And maybe a little bit of space, too.

He'd scared her. Badly.

Of course she understood that danger was just part of the job. She'd been on the ugly side of more than one gun barrel and she was an anthropologist. It simply came with his job.

But it bothered her that she could be protected from the dangers and he could not be. She could be relegated to the lab, and he would still be out there tangling with the bad guys and in her estimation no one, _no one_ would watch his back like she did.

There had just been so many changes. She didn't want to undo any of it, that much she knew. She was so happy, happier than she imagined she ever could be. She loved him and he loved her and they were having a baby.

And he'd almost died.

Conveniently she was forgetting that she'd nearly been hit by a bullet as well because that just wasn't the problem for her. Her death, well she'd just be dead, but his? She'd be left with a baby and the pain of having loved and lost. She'd be left facing every facet of her life without him.

It was all just so much bigger than it had ever been before.

* * *

><p>"So, how are things with you and Dr. Brennan?" Sweets tried to be casual, pretending the Judge Judy on the TV was of some kind of interest to him.<p>

Booth groaned. "You promised!"

"I'm asking as a friend."

"You can't even wait five minutes before you start nosing around where you don't need to be."

"I was just asking."

"Things are fine. Just great."

"Fine and just great."

"You are doing it again." Booth briefly wondered if maybe he should just feign sleep to get rid of the Boy Wonder.

"It just seemed like the air was kind of tense in here when I came in, that's all." Sweets tried be nonchalant.

"No, not really. Except…"

"Except?"

"We've been bickering a lot since I woke up. This time it's weird, alright?"

"Weird how?"

"It's just…before…when things got dangerous or one of us got hurt, it was scary. But things were still separate. It wasn't everything. And now…"

"Now what?"

"There is more to lose. I can't pretend it's not everything anymore."

"Because it is."

"Yeah. It really is and I'm good with that, you know? But Bones, she needs more time, I think, to be okay with it all being bigger than before."

"Bigger?"

"More. Us, the baby, our work partnership. If something happens to one of us, everything changes."

"And it wouldn't have before?"

Booth had to think. "No, it would have, but not officially, you know? And there was no baby. Compartmentalizing was still possible. At least, for her." He didn't add that if something had happened to her, even when they were only work partners, a part of him would have died with her.

Sweets hesitated. He was treading into dangerous territory for himself. "Well, technically, you died on her before and she didn't do as well as we thought she would with that."

"We who?" glared Booth.

"You know what I mean. She was clearly upset."

"Okay, so take that and add in a baby and how we are now and you can bet this scared her. A lot."

"But it didn't scare you?"

"Of course it did. But I can stick her in the lab. Protocol and regulations are on my side."

"But she has to watch you walk out the door everyday."

"Yes."

"You've gotten pretty good at figuring her out." Sweets was impressed with Booth.

"See, there is your mistake. You can't think that. You can never know what's going on in her brain. As soon as you think you know, you find out you don't know anything."

Sweets was quiet for a minute, absorbing the truth in that. "Do you think she'll run?"

"No. I don't." Booth was confident. "Bones and I are solid. She's just needs some time to work it out in her head."

"And then the bickering will stop."

"Have you met us?" Booth looked incredulously at the psychologist. "The bickering will never stop. It's what we do." He took a breath. "But it will get better. I'll help her feel better and she'll help me feel better and everything will be…" he was looking for the right descriptive.

"Better?" supplied the shrink with a smile.

"You know, Sweets, it's pretty great already. I'm a happy man."

* * *

><p>It was closer to 9 when Brennan made it back to Booth's room. Angela had called when she'd left about an hour before and had said that Booth looked tired so Brennan had run a few errands hoping he would sleep. Rest is essential to recovery.<p>

She crept into his room and instantly saw his breathing pattern indicated sleep. The bed for her looked inviting. At least, it looked as inviting as a hospital bed ever could. She was so tired. She would never admit it to anyone, but these last few days had really taken it out of her.

She had changed into some yoga pants and a simple t-shirt for the night. Refusing to resemble a patient at all, she crawled on top of the covers instead of underneath.

"Hey." Booth said softly.

"Hey. I thought you were sleeping." She kept her voice low as well.

"I was, but I heard you come in." When she raised her eyebrows he said "Sniper training, remember?"

She briefly wondered if he ever slept deeply. Instead of asking that she said "How was your time with Sweets?"

"Don't ever do that again. He was shrinking my head from the minute you left." He tried to sound serious and annoyed, but she knew he secretly liked Sweets.

"Did you give away all our secrets?" She teased.

"Nah. He's still only twelve. I can't be outwitted by a kid." Something had shifted. She seemed…relaxed. "How are you doing, Bones?" He tried to read her face in the moonlight streaming through the closed blinds.

"I'm…" she sighed. "I didn't have to go to the lab."

"I know."

"But I'm okay now."

"Good."

It was a shorthand they'd perfected over the years. It worked for them. It was enough.

"I want to show you something." She left her bed and retrieved the envelope from her coat pocket. "Do you remember, when you first woke up after surgery, that I said I had a lot to tell you?"

"Not really. I was still pretty dopey."

She nodded. "I thought so. But I've been holding onto to this," she waved the envelope, "waiting for the right time. Things have been…touchy. I was… scared."

"Scared of what?" He was gentle with her feelings. It was one of the things she cherished most about him.

"Making what we almost lost even more tangible." She didn't crawl back onto her own bed, but rather perched on the edge of his.

"How's that?"

"These," she put the envelope in his hand, "are ultrasound pictures." She saw the disappointment cross his face. He'd been looking forward to their ultrasound appointment that was scheduled for just the next day and he wouldn't be able to go. "I'm sorry. They wanted to make sure the baby was ok after the shooting." She explained.

"No, it's fine. So, you brought these for me?"

"For us. I haven't looked, either."

"What do you mean?"

"I had them turn the monitor away from me. At first it was because I didn't want to see it if something was wrong. I've looked at ultrasounds, studied enough in my career, enough that I would see right away if things weren't right." She laid carefully next to him now, careful not to jostle him. He was still recovering after all. "But then I was just missing you. And I didn't want to have that moment without you." She swallowed hard, realizing that pregnancy was turning her…what was that word that Parker always used? Mushy. Pregnancy was making her mushy.

"Bones…" his voice was weighted with awe and gratitude and love.

"So I had the doctor take pictures, put them in an envelope and seal it. I thought we could open it and look at our baby for the first time together." She pushed the button on the bedrail for the softer secondary lights in the room to come on. "So go ahead. Open it."

He kissed her head as it laid on his shoulder, at a loss for words, and opened the envelope carefully to be sure not to tear the contents on accident. He pulled out several sheets of small, glossy paper.

He sucked in a breath as she let out a small "Oh!"

The first picture was a profile. A perfect little baby profile, with one hand up, as if to say hello to the parents catching their first look of their creation.

"Look at that." breathed Booth. Brennan couldn't say anything at all.

The next was a picture of the baby's leg and measurements of the bone. "It's perfect" murmured Brennan and Booth thought to himself that he was glad he had his own personal expert for that assessment.

Another picture, this time of the fingers. "The phalanges are all exactly as they should be." It wasn't clinical, decided Booth. It was sweetly squinty. It was Bones, after all.

A foot was the fourth picture. "Five toes." counted Booth.

"Yes." nodded Brennan. "I count that as well."

The next picture was one that Booth couldn't decipher. It looked a little like a "U" but what it was supposed to be, he couldn't tell.

But Brennan could.

"This…" her voice caught "this picture was taken from an odd angle. You probably can't tell, but this shape is a shot of the legs from afar. From upside down. Can you see what this means?"

"No, I..I can't even see what you mean."

Staying away from clinical terms on purpose she said "This is the baby's leg, here" she showed him, "then this end, this is the baby's rear end. See that?"

"Yeah, okay. I see it. And this here" he pointed "this is the other leg."

"Yes."

"Do you know…" she began to ask him if he knew what that picture showed them.

"It's a girl." Booth whispered. "Right? Is that what you mean? This picture means we're having a girl?"

"Yes." She was crying now. Mushy all over again. "It's a girl. A healthy girl."

She wasn't crying alone.

Together they laid in quiet celebration for a very long time because the simple truth was that it was completely amazing how something, _someone_ so small, could make _everything_ so much bigger.

* * *

><p><em>I struggled with this chapter, so I would adore your reviews.<em>


	6. Chapter 6

_For bones35, because of the great advice last chapter. This one seems like filler, maybe, but it's going somewhere, I promise._

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 6**

Booth went home on a Tuesday, with strict orders to stay home and rest up until the following Monday.

But that did not mean that Brennan did not have to work. No cases meant time for ancient bones and bone storage and teaching and all those other things that sometimes got pushed aside in favor of the working with the FBI.

So he sulked while she went to work. A bored Booth was sometimes a petulant, childish Booth and there were some mornings she was very glad to make her escape, even though she knew he'd call several times about nothing. There is only so much ESPN a man can watch before he gets bored.

Which is why she very nearly "forgot" her phone when she went down to Bone Storage. At the last moment she thought better of it and took it with her.

Thankfully.

Because when it rang it was about a Booth, but not Booth himself.

"Brennan." She was looking at skull fracture and hadn't checked the caller ID

"Is this Dr. Temperance Brennan?"

"Yes?" She straightened up and listened.

"This is Susan Payne, I'm the principal at Creekside Elementary School?" She waited for Brennan's response before she went on.

"Parker's school." Brennan remembered. "Is something wrong?"

"He needs to be picked up."

"Oh…uh…" she wasn't unwilling, just surprised.

"His mother can't be reached and he asked us not to call his father, said he was recently hospitalized?"

"Yes, he was. That's true."

"You were the emergency contact on his card."

"Of course. I'll be there shortly."

She disconnected the call and stared at the phone for a moment, trying to decide if she should call Booth. But he couldn't go pick Parker up, driving wasn't allowed yet, so she left the bones and went back to her office to get her keys, where she found Angela looking for her.

"I was just about to pop down to the daycare. Did you want to go with me to check it out?"

"I can't Ange, I have to go pick up Parker from school."

"Is he sick?"

"The principal didn't say."

"The principal?" Angela raised her eyebrows. "Well, that's not good."

"Why?"

"Sweetie, the principal only calls when a kid is in trouble."

"Parker's a good kid. I highly doubt he's in any trouble."

"Why'd they call you?"

"Rebecca can't be reached and Parker asked them not to call Booth."

Now Angela laughed. "He didn't want them to call his dad? Yeah, he's in big trouble."

"Because he was hospitalized, Angela!"

"Sure, Brennan. Sure."

"I have to go." She brushed past Angela in a brisk walk that bordered on a half run.

"Good luck!" Angela called after her. Smirking to herself she thought it was amusing that Brennan's first parenting hurdle wasn't a colicky baby, but rather a busted ten year old.

It took Brennan twenty minutes to reach the school. In that twenty minutes she debated calling Booth over and over again. But really, she had nothing to tell him, so there was no real reason to call. She and Parker had always had a good relationship, but things had changed a bit and so they were both learning to navigate this new road they were on; the one where she wasn't quite a parent, but was more than just his father's partner.

She found the office easily enough and could see Parker's messy mop of hair through the window in the principal's office.

"I'm here to pick up Parker Booth." she told the lady at the front desk.

"Oh, yes. I'll tell Ms. Payne you're here. She may want to speak with you." She handed Brennan a clipboard. "Just sign him out on here, please. I'll be right back." And she disappeared into the principal's office.

Brennan filled out Parker's name on the sign out sheet, along with date and time and her signature. She left the area marked "reason" blank. She didn't know why she was there.

Until she saw Parker with a scrape on his face, a fat lip and a torn shirt.

"Parker!" She could now see what Angela meant.

"Hi Bones." He looked dejected and slightly embarrassed, but she thought she might also see a hint of defiance in his eyes. They held the same glint his father's did sometimes when he wasn't exactly following all the rules.

She looked at the principal. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry, I can't discuss that with you. I need to speak with his parents."

"But, you called me."

"Yes, as his emergency contact. I can tell you that Parker has been suspended for the remainder of today. The reason for the suspension and rest of his punishment will be outlined in an email to his parents. I can't give you any details." She didn't sound particularly sorry.

"I'm taking him right home to his father. I can relay the information."

"It's a matter of confidentiality. I cannot discuss students with anyone who isn't a parent or a step-parent or legal guardian. And _you,_" the principal looked her up and down, raising an eyebrow at Brennan's pregnant stomach, "you are none of those things." The last sentence was said unkindly, so rudely, in fact that not even Brennan could miss the implication behind it.

"Parker, go wait in the car." She handed him the keys. "And no radio. You will sit and wait."

"Okay." Parker left the office with slumped shoulders. Being punished by his favorite scientist wasn't going to be any easier than being punished by his parents.

Brennan turned to the principal once Parker was well out of ear shot. "I understand that there are confidentiality issues. I understand that there are things you are unable to discuss with me. But to insinuate, in any way, that my role in that boy's life is nothing more than a chauffer is insulting to me, his father, and to Parker. He lives in my home, with me and his father when he is not with his mother. I help him with his homework. I came to his science fair, I helped him with that project. I have bought every roll of gift wrap, every candy bar, every trinket you have put these children up to selling. At the school auction I won the class basket for two hundred and fifty dollars and I can assure the prime parking spot at this school is not worth the five hundred dollars we bought it for. I led his class on a private field trip through the Jeffersonian's dinosaur exhibit before it opened to the public. I am at his baseball game every Saturday. I bought that shirt he is wearing and I took him to get his last haircut. I know his favorite treat is a chocolate milkshake. I know he prefers spaghetti to pizza and that he is not allowed to drink soda. His middle name is Matthew, he was named Parker after a fallen soldier, a friend of his father's. He has a birth mark on his left ankle, a small mole on his right shoulder, a cavity on his second bicuspid and he is allergic to cinnamon. I have tucked him in at night and made him breakfast in the morning. I have packed his lunch. I may not be on some form you need to have to speak to me about him but I assure you I am very much a part of Parker's life and I will not tolerate you implying otherwise, especially in front of Parker."

The principal regarded her coolly. "But you are not his parent or his step parent. You are not even the first of his father's girlfriends we have seen. So forgive me, but I am unwilling to break the rules for you. Have a very nice day." She turned her back on Brennan and walked away.

The brilliant anthropologist had never wanted to punch someone more in her entire life.

* * *

><p>The car ride was initially very quiet. Normally, Brennan would have asked Parker what had happened, but the nasty principal had put a seed of doubt in her mind. Was it her place to have that conversation with Parker? Should she simply bring him home and let Booth deal with him? Or should she engage him, find out what happened and let Booth decide the punishment.<p>

Sometimes parents, or partners of parents don't get to decide, because Parker spoke first.

"I got in a fight."

Brennan stole a sideways glance at the face of the boy she had come to adore. "I gathered. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Will you tell Dad?"

"No." said Brennan. "You will have to tell him yourself."

"I punched Miles Cambridge."

"Who is Miles Cambridge?"

"He's a total jerk."

"And so you punched him because he's a jerk?"

"Not exactly." Eyes down and to the left. One of Parker's tells. She knew that about him, too.

"Then what?"

"He said…he said mean things about someone."

"So you punched him because he was garbage talking?"

"Do you mean trash talking, Bones?"

"Sure. Trash talking."

"Kind of." Down and to the left again.

"Parker, you don't have to tell me what happened, but if you do, you might feel better."

"How do you know I feel bad? He kind of deserved it."

"Mmmm." Brennan thought for a minute before answering. "Well, I know that you are a good kid. I know you don't like it when your father is angry at you, so I just assumed that you would be feeling bad about what you've done. Am I wrong?"

"Kind of." A shrug. "But I feel worse that my dad will be mad than that I punched Miles. I don't feel that bad about that."

"It looks like you had quite a fight. More than one punch."

"Well he punched me back, so I jumped him and we were on the ground, rolling around and stuff."

"Oh, Parker. No trash talking is worth losing your temper like that." Although she would have liked to hit that principal so she understood the inclination.

Parker sat straight, his cheeks flushed. "You would have punched him too if you heard him. He said Dad was a killer! He said Dad killed innocent people when he went to Afghanistan! He said Dad had no business being there!" The boy slumped against his seat, defiance gone, the truth out.

Brennan was very quiet for a moment, weighing her options. She supposed saying that Miles Cambridge clearly deserved it was probably not the right choice. Instead she said "And that made you angry."

"I told him that my dad is a hero and that he saves people all the time, even here. And then he laughed and said killers can't be heroes. So I punched him."

Logically, she knew that Miles Cambridge, at ten years old, was just repeating the views of his parents or other adults in his life and maybe even getting it wrong. Logically, she understood that ten year olds don't really understand war or even killers and heroes. Logically she understood that this was the part where she was supposed to tell Parker he'd been completely in the wrong.

But sometimes, when you aren't the parent, you don't have to say parental things. "Well, I hope Miles looks worse than you."

Parker grinned. "He does."

"But you still shouldn't fight." She said sternly.

"I know." The grin was gone instantly.

"And the principal is going to email your parents."

"I know."

"And you will probably be punished."

"I know that, too."

"Your father will be disappointed."

That's when his eyes filled with tears and his head dropped. "I know."

Brennan pulled into her parking space at the apartment. "But I think it's very honorable of you to try to defend your father, Parker."

"You do?"

"Yes. But you need to find a better way to do it." She turned off the car and turned to look at her partner's son. "Are you ready to talk to your dad?"

"I guess."

"Alright, let's go upstairs."

_Thank you for reading. Reviews are appreciated._


	7. Chapter 7

_This is a wordy one! Thanks to pdlbean for catching and correcting my error so fast in the last chapter. I need to learn to trust my own instincts! And I wrote a nice Rebecca, because I would like to think that for the best interest of their kid, she and Booth could get their act together and behave like adults._

_And trust me, it only SEEMS like filler._

**Unexpected Variables- Chapter 7**

Brennan mused that Booth and Rebecca made a rather attractive looking firing squad, as they sat side by side facing Parker on the couch. The email from the principal had already been received when she and Parker had arrived home and Parker had been sent immediately to his room.

"Don't you want to hear his explanation?" Brennan had asked.

"No, I don't. It won't be good enough, whatever it is." Booth was angry, but there was something else there that Brennan couldn't quite figure out.

Booth had left several messages for Rebecca and when she had called back, she too had read the email. They spoke for a long time about the best way to handle it and what Parker's punishment should be. They decided that Rebecca would come over after work and they would dole out the decided upon punishment together.

This was a new frontier for all of them and Brennan felt very much that she wanted nothing to do with it. Booth and Rebecca, however, both felt that she should stay and listen. She, too, would have to enforce the punishment and the parents felt it would be important for all of Parker's "people" to be on the same page. So she stationed herself in a chair behind Booth and Rebecca and vowed to remain quiet and simply listen. None of this was up to her.

Booth began. "Parker, I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in you right now." He looked at Rebecca. "And so is your mother."

"You _know_ better, Parker." Rebecca was no less stern, but seemed more upset than angry. "The school has suspended you tomorrow as well and you have been assigned to Saturday school. You will miss your baseball game."

"But it's the play offs!" protested Parker.

"Too bad. There are consequences for your behavior. Missing play-offs is one of them. You will also have to call Coach Morgan and tell him that you won't be there and why." Booth was not messing around. "Also, your mom and I have decided you need to be punished by us as well."

"You have lost your Xbox for a month." said Rebecca. "And you won't attend Kyle's pizza party on Friday."

"Also, no television for a week."

"No TV _and_ no Xbox? I'll be bored!" Parker flung himself backwards into the couch melodramatically.

"You can read a book." countered Rebecca unsympathetically. Then she sighed. "For the life of me, Parker, I cannot imagine what got into you."

"Bec." said Booth. They had agreed the why didn't matter. Fighting is never the answer.

"Sorry. I'm a lawyer, Seeley. I want to let him state his case." She looked at her son. "But it won't change anything. You are still in a crazy amount of trouble."

Booth deferred to Rebecca's wish. "Well? Tell your mother what she wants to know. What were you thinking?"

"I don't know," mumbled Parker and now Brennan was really paying attention. Was Parker not going to tell his parents why he punched that boy?

"You don't know why you punched another student? Your principal said you started it!" Rebecca knew there was more to it.

"It was no big deal, I just got mad. Miles is a jerk."

"Miles Cambridge?" Booth knew the kid and knew he was a punk.

"Yeah. He was just being mean and you told me once that I should fight for other people, so I punched him."

Booth sighed. He'd forgotten that little conversation with Parker. "I didn't mean you should punch people, Parks. I just meant, you know, fight for the person who can't fight for themselves."

"I was!"

"Who were you defending?" Rebecca asked, wondering who could bring about such loyalty out of her son.

"Nobody." Eyes down and to the left. Brennan wasn't the only one who knew what that meant.

"Parker, I think you need to tell us what happened." Rebecca spoke softly now. She knew her son, knew there was more to this story than he was telling.

"Miles is just a jerk, that's all." Parker was on the verge of it all being too much. His eyes were watery and his voice shaky.

"Parker." Booth warned "Answer your mother's question. What happened?"

And it all came spilling out. "Miles said you were a killer in Afghanistan. He said you killed innocent people and that soldiers like you shouldn't even be there. I told him that you're a hero. That you save people all the time and he said that killers can't be heroes. So I punched him. Then he punched me back and I knocked him down and then Ms. Payne caught us and took us to the office and she wouldn't let me say _why_ I punched him and Miles said he didn't do anything and he _DID_! He punched me, too and he tore my shirt. And then Ms. Payne let him go back to class but she said she was going to call you guys and I was going to be in trouble. She tried you first Mom, but you didn't answer, so then she wanted to call you, Dad, but I knew you couldn't come so I asked her to call Bones. And the whole time we were waiting for Bones she said that I couldn't go around picking fights because people don't like my dad's job and that I need to learn to let stuff go. And she didn't listen at all when I tried to tell her that Miles punched me too. She said it didn't matter who started it! She was being really mean. And then Bones came and she was mean to Bones too and I just really hate that school!"

Stunned silence filled the room. Booth blinked, trying to process the outburst and Rebecca looked like her mean mom resolve was crumbling quickly. Only Brennan, who already knew the story, was unsurprised.

"Oh, Parker…" Rebecca started.

"Rebecca, can I…" Booth motioned towards their boy.

She nodded for him to continue.

"Parker, you punched Miles Cambridge because he was saying…" he searched for the right words, "…bad stuff about me?"

Miserably, Parker nodded. He couldn't make eye contact with his dad.

"I don't need you to defend me. Miles has no idea what I do now or what I did in Afghanistan. Miles doesn't know anything about me. He was just looking to push your buttons and you let him. You can't do that. You have to learn to control your temper."

"You sound like Ms. Payne."

"Well she's right. You do need to learn to let stuff go."

"You're not a killer, Dad."

Booth had a white knuckle grip on the copy of the email he was holding and Brennan could see the conversation was metaphorically killing him.

Rebecca knew it too. "No, he's not Parker. But that's no reason to fight. I know you love your dad and I know you're proud of him, but you can't punch someone because they say mean things about him. That's not acceptable." She was gentle, but firm. "I'm sure your dad agrees with me; your punishments stand."

Booth nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, Buddy. No Xbox, no party, no TV and you'll miss the game because you'll be in Saturday school."

Parker hung his head dejectedly. "I'm sorry."

"We know you are." Rebecca said. "Get your backpack. It's time to go home."

As Parker passed next to Brennan, still in her chair, he said "I'm sorry you had to come get me, Bones. And I'm sorry Ms. Payne is a mean old witch."

"Parker!" barked Booth.

Brennan smiled at Parker. "It's okay, Parker. And I don't think that Ms. Payne is that old. Or a witch, but of course, I can't know for sure. You can't tell someone's religious affiliation just by looking at them." She knew what he meant and she was pretty certain he knew that she knew.

Parker grabbed his backpack from his room and hugged both Brennan and Booth goodbye.

"Thanks Seeley. I'm sorry. I know that wasn't easy." Rebecca, despite all the trouble they'd had between them, hated to see anyone poke at the one thing that hurt her ex the most.

"Yeah. Thanks. Tomorrow at lunch?"

"Yes. I'll drop him here at around twelve." Rebecca had taken a half day to stay home with Parker and would drop him a still convalescing Booth for the remainder of the day.

"Sounds good. See you both tomorrow."

"Bye!" Parker and his mom said in unison as Booth closed the door behind him.

Booth blew out a deep breath and slumped against the door. "Wow."

"Yes. Wow seems appropriate."

"You knew already, didn't you?"

"Yes. He confessed in the car. But I didn't think it was my place to tell you."

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him that he shouldn't fight, that you were going to be disappointed and…" She hesitated.

"And?"

"And that I hoped that Miles looked worse than he did."

Booth let out a hearty laugh. "God, I hope so too. That kid is such a little punk. I can't stand him or his parents. The whole family is a bunch of self righteous know it alls."

"I'm sorry you had to hear what that boy said to Parker. I know that was difficult for you."

"Yeah, but you know what's worse? Knowing my son inherited my temper. I didn't want that for him." He closed his eyes. "I wanted better for him. I wanted his life to be easier than having to fight against that all the time."

Brennan stood and went to Booth, taking his hand. She knew now what had been eating at him since he first got the email. "It seems to me that the trait Parker inherited is the desire to protect the people he loves. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. He's a good boy, just like you are a good man."

He pulled her into his chest and just held her for a minute. "Thanks, Bones."

"And that principal _is_ quite rude."

"What did she say to you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me." Booth countered.

"She insinuated that I'm not important person in Parker's life."

"She said what?"

"She wouldn't speak to me about what happened with Parker and I can understand that, but when I asked her not to speak rudely about me in front of Parker she…"

"She what, Bones?"

"She said that I wasn't the first of your girlfriends they'd seen at the school. As if I were…a temporary fixture in his life. I assume that you took Hannah with you once to pick up Parker and now here I am, so she took that to mean your girlfriends come and go." She was glad his arms were around her. Repeating the sentiments of the principal made her feel more vulnerable than she liked.

"Bones, you've been my girl in one way or the other for seven years. You know that, right?" He tipped her chin up to look at him.

She didn't bother objecting to his phrasing or arguing the point. Instead, she simply nodded and moved securely back into his chest.

"She asked me out." Booth confessed.

"The principal?"

"Yes."

"When was this?"

"A few years ago." He thought for a moment. "Right after we came back from China, I think. Around then. I ran into her at the grocery store. She took a chance. She said how it probably wasn't professional, but she couldn't help but notice I was single…it was kind of embarrassing for both of us, I think."

"What did you say?"

"I told her no. You know, that it wouldn't be a good idea with her being Parker's principal and all." He shrugged. "She's kind of been a cold fish to me ever since. And I guess to you, now, too."

"Well, you rejected her."

"It wasn't personal."

"Obviously it was to her."

"I'll talk to her."

"No, don't."

"But you are an important person in Parker's life. It's not okay for her to imply that you aren't."

"I'm just not his parent or his step parent or his legal guardian, therefore she cannot give me details about him. And that's okay. I'm sure it's a legal thing. But it was the way she said it that bothered me." She wasn't always so good with people, but there had been no missing the woman's nastiness.

"I never took Hannah to Parker's school. Not once. She was just leveling a low blow." He smiled into her hair. "I wouldn't have gone out with her even if she wasn't Parker's principal. She's not my type at all."

"And what is your type, Agent Booth?" She asked, deciding to go along with the game.

"Sexy scientists. I like blue eyed, sexy, squinty, scientists."

"I'm not sure Angela wants to share Hodgins with you, but I can ask her."

"Um, pass, Bones. That's a thought I didn't need."

"I can give you something else to think about." She kissed his neck, working her way toward the spot behind his ear that he seemed to melt him every time.

"Um, Bones, doctor's orders?" He didn't want to follow doctor's orders for "little to no physical activity." Not at all. It had been far too long already.

"You don't have to do a thing." She winked saucily and worked her way downwards from his earlobe.

And not for the first or last time he sent up a silent thank you for this incredible woman.

* * *

><p><em>Reviews are appreciated.<em>


	8. Chapter 8

_Thanks to my twitter girls for the help. You know who you are. And thanks to all for the reviews and alerts. They mean a lot. Here we go, onto the good stuff._

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 8**

If Parker Booth ever felt the need to right a wrong, his father was ten times worse. Though Bones had told him not to speak to the principal, he spent a lot of time the next day imagining ways to put that woman in her place.

Realistically, he came up empty. What was he supposed to say "Be nice to my girlfriend or else?" Yeah, that wouldn't work. "Respect my not quite wife, which is only the case because she doesn't believe in marriage, or I will sick the IRS on you" also lacked a little something.

But he couldn't turn on the television, because Parker was there and Parker couldn't watch TV. Booth reflected that sometimes the child's punishment was a punishment for the parent as well. So he was left with his thoughts until:

"Dad, I need my science workbook. It's at school."

"Why didn't you grab it yesterday?"

"I forgot." Famous words of ten year olds everywhere.

Ready to get out of the house, Booth decided a little drive wouldn't hurt him. And there was always the chance that the opportunity to talk to Ms. Payne would present itself. "Fine. Let's go. In and out. Get your book, no socializing."

There is something about a car ride that lends itself to conversation. Perhaps it is the fact that neither party can go anywhere. Perhaps it is the proximity of the passengers. Whatever the case, Booth seized the opportunity to do a little digging, knowing Bones would kill him if she knew.

"Hey Parks, yesterday, you said Ms. Payne was mean to Bones. What happened exactly?"

"Dude, she was so rude!"

"Dude?" Now his kid sounded like Sweets.

"Yeah."

"Ooookay. How was she rude?"

Parker had to think. "I can't remember exactly what happened, but Ms. Payne said that she couldn't tell Bones what happened with me and then I think Bones said that she would tell you what happened and Ms. Payne said that she could only tell parents and step parents stuff and that Bones wasn't my mom or my step mom."

All things considered, Booth didn't think that sounded so bad.

Parker continued "But, Dad, you should have seen the way she _looked_ at Bones. It was totally snotty. That's when Bones asked me to wait in the car, but…"

"But?"

"Well, I kinda didn't go right away."

"You eavesdropped."

"Well, yeah."

"Parker…"

"I _know_, Dad! But it was awesome, because Bones totally told her off. She said that she knew all this stuff about me like my favorite treat and where my birthmark is and who I'm named after. She said that she is totally an important person and that Ms. Payne better watch her mouth"

"She said that?"

"Well, not the watch your mouth part, not exactly like that, but that's what she meant."

Booth was absurdly proud of Bones. And touched, because she went to bat for her relationship with Parker and that meant something to him. Actually, it meant a lot.

"But then Ms. Payne said that you have different girlfriends all the time and that Bones isn't special. Then I left because I knew I was supposed to be in the car."

"Where those her actual words?"

"No. I can't remember how she said it, but she was so mean, Dad. Meaner than Miles, I think." Parker watched his dad's face very carefully. The adults in his life weren't the only one who could read an expression. "Are you gonna yell at Ms. Payne? She was really rude."

Thinking this was an excellent chance to school his son in controlling the infamous Booth temper, he tried to relax his features. "No, Parker, I'm not going to yell at her. But I would like to speak with her and make sure she understands that Bones is important to us all."

"Can I be there?" Parker was no dummy.

"You will wait and not eavesdrop." Booth couldn't let that one slide. Not completely.

"Fine" groused the younger Booth as they pulled into the prime parking spot Bones had paid a pretty penny for.

"Straight to class, get your book, come right back to the office. That's where I will be waiting."

"Got it." They entered the school. One went left, the other, right.

Booth was still pretending that the opportunity to speak with the administrator was presenting itself, as opposed to him actively seeking her out. After all, Parker needed his book and if she just happened to be in the office, then why not make it clear that Bones was no transitory person in Parker's life? Exactly what he would say, he didn't know. That part would have to just…happen. Planning it out had gotten him nowhere.

He charm smiled the front desk secretary, who sat up a little straighter when he spoke to her. "Hi. I'm Parker Booth's dad. I was wondering if Ms. Payne is available to meet with me for a minute or two? I want to kind of fill her in on how we've handled things with Parker." Sure. That sounded good.

"I'll check for you." The secretary smiled sweetly. Had Brennan been there, she'd have rolled her eyes. "Ms. Payne? Parker Booth's dad is here to see you if you have moment." She paused. "Ok, great." Hanging up she told Booth "Her office is right there. Go on in." One shiny, polished finger pointed the way.

"Thanks!" He was falsely chipper as he headed toward his target destination. "Oh, if Parker comes in, could you just have him wait there for me? I'll just be a minute." More charm smiling.

"Sure." She beamed back.

Booth raised his hand to knock, but the principal beat him to it by opening the door. Booth noticed her lipstick looked newly applied and inwardly winced.

"Ms. Payne," he extended a hand, all business. "How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you Mr. Booth. Please come in." She shook his hand and ushered him into her office. "Please have a seat. You wanted to discuss yesterday's incident?"

From all his years with the FBI, Booth knew how to play the game. And he would bring his best to this playing field. "Yes. I just wanted to assure you that we received your email and that we fully support your decisions for Parker's punishments here at school. His mother and I have also agreed upon punishments at home. I'm pretty sure this won't happen again."

"It's always nice to have the support of the parents." She smiled at him and Booth felt like she was being nearly as phony as he was.

"Of course. It takes a village right?" He was nearly making himself vomit with the niceties.

"It certainly does. It's to the best advantage of the student that we all work together."

That was his opening and he took it. "Yes. And Rebecca and I certainly want Parker to have every advantage possible, which is why I have one small issue with what happened yesterday."

She looked surprised, but Booth was also fairly certain she looked nervous. "Oh?"

He nodded. "Yes, the woman you contacted to pick Parker up? Dr. Brennan?"

"Yes?"

"She's my partner."

"At the FBI?"

"In life." Booth wasn't charm smiling now. "In my life and in Parker's life. She is not some random contact on a form. I think that you misunderstood the situation yesterday, so I wanted to clear it up for you. She is always to have full access to anything relating to Parker. I don't care what it is: trouble on the playground, report cards, permission slips, whatever. She is not to be thought of or referred to as anything less than equal to myself. She is an extension of me. I won't have it any other way and I trust that what happened yesterday will never happen again. She is to be respected as an important parental figure in Parker's life. Is that clear?" He wasn't mean, or threatening, but he was beyond serious.

And she knew it. He'd been heard. She knew that he was aware she'd treated Bones poorly. He could see it when she swallowed nervously, could hear it in her voice when she said "Of course, Mr. Booth. I had no idea. I'm sorry."

He smiled, but he didn't mean it. "I'm not the one who deserves an apology, but since she can't be here right now I will let her know it won't happen again. I appreciate your time, Ms. Payne. Have a great day. " He stood and let himself out of her office.

Parker was waiting and Booth nearly laughed at the expectant look on his son's face. "You ready, Buddy?"

"Yeah. I got my book and came right here like you said."

"Okay, I'm done too. Let's go." He nodded in the direction of the front desk secretary escorted his son into the hall.

"Did you tell her to be nice to Bones, Dad?" Parker asked, once they were outside the school.

"I got it covered, Parks. Don't worry."

"Good. Because I'm pretty sure Bones wanted to punch her the way I punched Miles."

Booth tried to suppress a smile as he remembered a time when Brennan well might have punched the haughty administrator. "Well, she didn't because that is not how we handle things. Now let's get out of here before Bones gets home and yells at me for driving."

* * *

><p>Saturday was a day of nothing. Parker was at Saturday school, so there was no game to attend. Booth was still not back at work for two days and Brennan was pounding away at her latest novel on her laptop.<p>

Booth was bored silly. "Booooones. Do you have to do that today? Let's do something."

Brennan barely looked up. "You know I have to finish this today. I told you that an hour ago."

"I'm bored. I've been stuck here for days."

"Not true. You took Parker to get his science book."

"He ratted me out?"

"If by that you mean he told me you drove yourself somewhere before you were cleared by the doctor to do so, then yes. He ratted you out." She leveled her gaze at him. "Why don't you go somewhere now?"

"And do what? Even work is desk duty for another two weeks. I'm not allowed to play hockey or go for a run."

"Booth, I cannot entertain you. We could use some groceries. Go grocery shopping."

"Are you kidding me? I'm not going to spend my Saturday grocery shopping."

"Fine. Don't complain when there's tofu for dinner then." She went back to typing.

"We can always get take-out." He was quiet for a minute. "Can I read it?

"I'll sign your copy for you when it's published."

"You're going to make me buy a copy?"

"Maybe. But if you keep bothering me I'm never going to get it finished. Two hours, Booth. I need two hours. Please find something besides me to occupy your time."

He moaned and groaned for another twenty minutes before being on the receiving of a look so nasty he figured he'd better leave before she threw something at him.

"I'm going" he announced, shoes on, keys in hand.

"Okay." She kept typing.

"Don't you want to know where I'm going?"

She sighed and looked up from her work. "Where are you going, Booth?"

"To Confession."

"Confession?"

"Yeah, you know, Confession? Forgive me Father for I have sinned, and all that?"

"Have fun with that." She went back to her work.

"I don't know about _fun, _but I'll be back in a while."

"I need two hours of peace."

"You said that half an hour ago."

"Uninterrupted peace. This last half hour does not count." She smiled at him, trying to be less edgy. "Go! I'll make it up to you when you get back. I promise." She winked suggestively.

He raised his eyebrows at the thought and said "And now I have something new to confess."

"Great. More peace for me. Go already!"

He grinned and scrambled out the door.

Once he was gone, Brennan stopped and allowed her brain to stray from her story. Most days she didn't find that his faith and her disbelief were much of a problem. Even Sundays, when he went to church and she slept in, were marked more by the coffee and bagels and sharing of the Sunday paper and a mid afternoon run and cooking dinner together than anything else.

But she had to admit that it bothered her when he went to Confession. She always felt like she was the reason he had things to confess. Living in sin, a child out of wedlock, these were things that Booth was fundamentally against, yet there they were, doing just exactly what his faith frowned upon. And she knew, though he'd never asked, never even mentioned it, that he would much prefer they get married. He was deferring to her and she appreciated it, but felt her own guilt over his concession.

She mused that perhaps she shouldn't be so egotistical. Perhaps Booth had things to confess that had nothing to do with her. He did have a demanding job and a son, and a brother and a grandfather…these were all things he could be talking about.

But it still niggled at her. And she didn't like it. Realizing her concentration was gone, she minimized her document and opened a new blank page. She divided it into two columns and began to type furiously.

And she was still typing furiously when Booth arrived home, not two but three hours later, with several bags of groceries.

"I thought you were going to be finished with that."

"I thought you weren't going to spend your Saturday grocery shopping." She deflected.

He shrugged. "I didn't want tofu for dinner."

She closed her laptop and went to help him unload the groceries. "How was Confession?"

If he was surprised that she asked, because she never did, he didn't show it. "It was good."

She couldn't help it. "What did you confess?"

"That's between me, the priest and the man upstairs, Bones."

She didn't like that answer, but did her best to school her features into an understanding and accepting expression.

She failed.

"Okay, what's going on?" Booth knew something was up.

"Nothing. Why would you ask me that?"

"Because you asked me about Confession, which you never do and then you asked me what I confessed, which is also weird for you. Then you get that _look_…"

"What look? I didn't have a look."

"Yes you did. It's the look you get when you think I'm nuts but you are trying to understand it."

" I don't know what you are talking about." She busied herself with putting the frozen items into the freezer.

"You're thinking."

"I always think. I'm very intelligent."

"Yeah, but this is something else."

She stopped and turned towards him. "Fine. If you must know, I find that it bothers me when you go to Confession."

"Why?"

"Because I know you are talking about me. About us."

This gave him pause and he tried to form his next answer very carefully because he felt this whole conversation could go really wrong really fast.

"Bones, it's not exactly like that."

"You go and confess all the things that you've done since the last time you've confessed that are against the teachings of your church."

"Well, yeah, that's…"

She cut him off. "And that's what we are, right? Baby, not married, living in sin. I don't see any other areas of your life that directly violate your faith."

"Whoa, where is all this coming from? And since when does it bother you what anyone, including my faith, thinks about who we are and how we do things?"

She meant to choose her next words carefully. She meant to present her argument in a rational, logical manner. She'd been thinking since he'd left and she'd come to her conclusion and she wanted to show him how she'd gotten to it.

But instead the words came tumbling out with no explanation attached at all.

"I think we should get married."

* * *

><p><em>Whoa! Reviews are appreciated.<em>


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks for the reviews and alerts. After this one I'm on a 5 day girls' vacation, so the next one might take a while. Fear not, though: the laptop is going with me._

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 9**

Had he been eating he would have choked. Had he been drinking, he would have spat it all out like a bad romantic comedy move.

He wasn't doing either so he just stood there for a moment, slack jawed and wide eyed and disbelieving.

"Booth?" She finally couldn't stand his silence anymore.

"Bones, did you…did you just say that you think we should get married?"

"Yes. That is what I said." She looked at him critically. "Why do you have that expression on your face?"

"What expression do I have on my face?"

"The one that says I have caught you completely off guard."

"Probably because you _have_ caught me completely off guard."

She shrugged. "It's really not so absurd."

"Not so…" he let out a small, dry laugh. "Bones, you don't believe in marriage. You think it's archaic and unrealistic."

"That's normally true. But there are…unexpected variables that I had failed to consider until now."

"Unexpected variables?"

"Yes. Recently there have been events that have caused me to reconsider if simply living together is conducive to our lives."

"Ok, so let me get this straight. Some things have happened that have made you see the logic in getting married where you could never see it before?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to explain it to me?" He knew the scientist in her most certainly did want to lay it all out for him.

She smiled. "I made notes."

He had to smile back. "I'm sure you did."

"I don't need to look at them, though. I remember."

"Well, let's sit and you can tell me all about it."

They made themselves comfortable on the couch, side by side, though not quite next to each other, yet not quite facing each other, either. She seemed eager to lay out her evidence, but he found the entire situation somewhat unnerving.

"The first time I realized there was a problem with not being married was at the hospital. The doctor didn't want to tell me anything about you because I wasn't your wife. I tried. I tried to explain but he just kept saying he could only speak to family…" She got a little teary at the memory so she shook her head to attempt to bounce back. "They didn't have a patient history for you, they weren't linked to any other hospitals that did. They couldn't have known I was your decision maker, that I have your power of attorney. I don't carry those papers with me all the time. If not for Wendell being at the lab and Hodgins pulling strings I'm not sure I would have known what was happening. I find that…unacceptable."

"It is unacceptable." He agreed. "You should always know. And I should always know about you."

"Yes." she nodded, pleased he could see the logic in her example. "There's more."

"Let's hear it."

"Parker."

"Parker? My son was a variable you hadn't considered?"

"Yes, in a way. I mean, of course, Parker is…" She sighed. "Booth, Parker is a wonderful child. He's so smart and so polite and so loving. He's… he's you. And I will never be his mother, and that's fine. He has a great mother. But that principal…there will always be people like her. People who find me…temporary or unimportant. People who think I am of little consequence in his life. But I want to be a permanent fixture for him. I want him to know I will always be here. How will he ever think that if others see it differently? How will he ever come to see me as his family if no one else does?"

"That's crap, Bones. He loves you."

"And I love him too. But that's not enough by society's standards. I think he deserves to have a legally cemented relationship with me so everyone can know with certainty that I have a say in Parker's life."

It was all so rational and it was making Booth's head hurt. "Is there more?"

"Yes."

"Lay it on me."

"Church."

"Church?"

"Yes. Well, specifically, Confession."

"You don't like that I talk about you at Confession."

"No, but that's not…I don't like that the way I see things gives you something to confess. I don't like the idea that you have to apologize to anyone for being with me."

"It's not like that Bones."

"But it is, Booth. What we're doing here is against everything your faith stands for. You are compromising some of your core values for me."

"Hey, you didn't create our baby alone. I was there, being a bad Catholic by my own choice."

"But now you are a bad Catholic by my choice, Booth, and I don't like that. I've forced you into that because of my preconceived notions about the institution of marriage. But now, I've looked at it logically, factoring in variables I hadn't considered and I can see that the reasons to get married are greater than the reasons against getting married."

He ran his hand over his face. He hated this. He hated everything about this conversation, everything about her unexpected variables and everything that made the two of them so damn opposite that the things that should be easy became unbelievably difficult.

It would be so simple to agree. More than anything he knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with this woman. Together they would parent Parker and their baby girl. Maybe in the future they would have one more child. There would be stolen kisses when the kids weren't watching and wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve and teacher conferences and maybe they would buy a house one day. He knew their future held birthday parties and graduations and trips to far off places and banquets where she would get awards and he would be so proud to be there with her. He had no doubts they would discover each other's first gray hairs, that he would find her beautiful despite any wrinkles and he wanted to be damn sure that any laugh lines she got were from all the times he made her smile.

He knew he would be with her for the rest of his life. But he also knew something else:

He couldn't marry her if she rationalized her way into it. Because as much as she didn't want him to compromise for her, he couldn't ask her to compromise for him. He didn't want her to marry him because it was logical. He wanted her to marry him because it was right. And despite what anyone else might think about the way Temperance Brennan conducted her emotions, he knew her heart was capable of that kind of leap.

"Bones…"

"You're going to say no, aren't you." She didn't really ask.

"I want to say yes. I really do."

"But you aren't going to."

"No. I'm not."

Her head dropped as she nodded and Booth could only think of one other time he'd hurt her like this. He'd promised himself he would never do it again, yet here he was. But this wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. And he couldn't marry her like this.

"Bones…" he tried again.

"It's fine, Booth." She looked up with her expression brave but her eyes betraying her. "I understand. You never even said you wanted to get married. I shouldn't have assumed that you would." She suddenly felt very expendable and he knew it. He'd been there, where she was now, and he was determined to fix it.

"It's my turn to talk now, okay?" He needed her to listen. He needed her to understand.

"Okay." She sounded breathy, like she'd run a marathon, and he winced when he realized that it was because he'd metaphorically kicked her in the gut and she was reacting physically to that.

"I love you. You mean more to me than I could ever explain. And yes, someday, I would like to marry you. But when I do it won't be because of doctor's oaths or other people's perceptions or because I'm Catholic. It will be because you can see the reality of forever. It will be because you understand that I'm in it for keeps and so are you. It won't be because of Parker. It won't be because of legal documents or confessions to my priest. It will be because you love me and because you want to and because you believe in us."

"I do believe in us." She whispered.

"I know. But I want you to get to that place where you want to be married because you just know it's right. I'm so glad you love my kid, Bones. I'm so thankful that you love me. But marriage shouldn't be rationalized to death. It shouldn't be something you make a pro and con list for. When you are really ready, you won't need that list. You'll just know it's right. And when you get there, Babe, you let me know, because I will have you saying 'I do' so fast your head will spin."

He put one big hand over her two smaller ones that were clasped together in her lap and with the other hand he drew her chin up so he could search her eyes. "The answer isn't 'no.' It's…'not yet.' Can you see the difference?"

She could. She really, truly could. And suddenly she was a little embarrassed. "I feel…foolish." she admitted.

"Why?"

"For thinking I could decide on getting married with a pro and con list. For trying to logically think my way into something that shouldn't be conducted through logic." She smiled sadly. "I think I still have a lot to learn."

"And I think you are doing great. And I know we will get there, to that moment when we both know it's what we want on every single level for every single reason. All those variables will still be there. Parker will still be my kid, doctors will still have confidentiality issues and I will still be Catholic. But you will just want to be married to me because it feels right and all those other reasons won't even make it into your thoughts."

"Heart in overdrive."

"Yes."

"I do love you."

"I know. I love you too."

"So now what?" She really wasn't sure where to go from this new, slightly awkward point.

"We cook dinner." He said, jumping up from the couch and extending her a hand..

She took it and said "No, I mean what now for us?"

He smiled. "We'll live. We'll cook meals, we'll clean up. We'll go to Parker's games. We'll take mid afternoon runs on Sundays and make beautiful, lazy love on Saturday mornings. We'll bicker, we'll fight, we'll make up. We'll work, we'll play, we'll raise our little girl. And one day, some day, we'll get married, but until we do, we will live together and love each other and tell anyone who thinks that's not permanent enough what they can do with themselves because we know who we are and what we are and where we are going."

"What if we never get to where you think we're going?"

"As long as you are with me, Bones, I'm more than happy with the journey."

She scooted forward and he pulled her off the couch and into his arms. "That's very poetic, Booth."

He spoke into her hair "It would have been so easy to say yes, Bones. You know that, right?"

She nodded into his chest. "I know, but the timing isn't right. Not yet."

"You let me know when you're ready, okay?"

"Booth?"

"Yeah, Baby?"

"I will get there. I'm sure of it."

"So am I."

* * *

><p><em>Don't hate me. Or hate me, but leave it in review form. But be nice. I'm fragile.<em>


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you all for the reviews and alerts. Special thanks to Philosophos for the awesome, in depth reviews that make me feel all glowy and for the accurate guess a few chapters back._

_This one is fluffy fun, but not without purpose._

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 10**

Booth returned to work on Monday, and by noon was knee deep in paperwork. Actually, it was more like ear deep. So when Brennan showed up with take out from the diner he was more than happy to see her for the new Monday ritual they were carving out.

"How about Molly? Molly is cute." He took a bite of his burger.

"Molly is cute for a little girl, but eventually she has to grow up. Molly doesn't seem like a very fitting name for a scientist."

"Maybe she won't be a squint. Maybe she'll be an FBI agent."

"It's more likely she'll be a scientist."

"How do you figure?"

"Anthropologically, girls tend to emulate their mothers."

"You're not a bookkeeper. You emulated your dad."

"Because I had a natural curiosity for science and he was a science teacher, as am I."

"Maybe she'll want to be like her old man."

"You want her to be an FBI Agent? You just got shot!"

"Good point. Maybe a squint would be better."

"Exactly." She stole a fry. "What about Elizabeth?"

"Boring."

"Cassandra?"

"No."

"Rose."

"Rose Booth sounds like an old lady."

"Alright. Your turn again."

"Ella."

"There are three Ellas in the Jeffersonian daycare."

"Paige?"

That one got a nose wrinkle.

"Meredith."

"Really?" Her eyebrows were up.

"What's wrong with Meredith? We could call her Meri."

"Meredith Booth is a little heavy on the 'th' sound, don't you think?"

"This kid is never going to have a name." groused Booth.

"This is only the second Monday we've been working at it. We have at least seventeen Mondays to go." Another fry was stolen.

"Remind me again why we only talk about this on Mondays at lunch?"

"Because we are not always the best at discussing things. By carving out a designated weekly time for this decision making process we can assure that we will actually have a name for her when she arrives."

He knew that made sense, but still, there was that part of him from his pre-Brennan days that knew it was weird to have a standing weekly lunch date in order to name your kid.

"You know, maybe she won't be a squint or an FBI agent. Maybe she'll emulate you and be a novelist."

Brennan considered this for a moment. "That's very true. So we should also take into consideration how her name will look on a book jacket and whether it will stand out amongst other authors."

His intention had not been to make this harder. Thankfully it was her turn again.

"Sara?"

"Too common."

"Layla?"

"Eh."

"Mallory?"

"I kind of like Mallory." Booth smiled.

"Mallory is on the list!" Brennan looked triumphant and then immediately defeated.

"What's wrong?"

"Mallory is the _only_ name on the list. It's not even a list. It's just Mallory."

"Well, you where the one who said we have seventeen Mondays left. There will be more choices on the list eventually. Every list starts somewhere."

"That's true." She thought for a moment. "Parker really likes his name. He says he likes that he's named after someone special"

"Yeah, he does. He also thinks we should name the baby Alex."

Brennan frowned. "Alex is traditionally a male name."

"He likes that Wizards of Waverly Place show. Actually, what I think he likes is looking at that cute girl wizard. Her name is Alex."

"I don't think I can put Parker's choice on the list, but I would like to consider some names that might have more meaning, like Parker's does."

"You want to name her after someone?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I think family names are nice. Anthropologically speaking there are many cultures that name the new generation after a previous one."

"No way is she going to be Maxine."

"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous." She finished her salad. "What was your mother's name?"

"Ah, the very Irish Catholic Mary-Margaret Hadley Booth."

"Mary is a bit religious for me. And I have that cousin named Margaret whom I find obnoxious."

"Your mother's name was nice."

"Christine?"

"Well I didn't mean Ruth."

"What's wrong with Ruth? It's a very strong name."

"Yes, but Ruth Booth?"

At that Brennan burst out laughing, "No. I don't suppose that will work, will it?"

God, he loved it when she laughed. It was the best sound in the world and it always made him laugh, too. "No, I don't think Ruth will go on the list."

"But Christine?"

"Maybe, Bones."

"Maybe as a middle name?"

He had missed it before, but he could see it now. This was important to her. "I think it would be a great middle name." He answered honestly and that earned him a big smile.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Should I start a second list for middle names?"

"No, I think we should just make the decision. Her middle name is Christine." He knew they could go round and round if one of them didn't just decide to decide.

She beamed and he knew, _knew_ it was the perfect choice. He'd do anything to see her happy like that. He smiled back at her, then sobered.

"What?"

"I'm hosed."

"Hosed?" She knit her eyebrows in confusion. "I don't know what that means"

"It means," he smiled again. "that this baby is going to have me wrapped around her finger just like her mommy does."

"Oh. And that's bad?"

"Not for the two of you. I'm the outnumbered one."

"Not true. You have Parker."

"You give Parker everything he wants."

"I do not."

"I know you bought him that Xbox game, Bones. He can't even play it for three and a half more weeks!"

"Well, he'd saved half the money."

"So you gave him the other half?"

"No. He's going to work off his loan."

"His idea or yours?"

"His" She conceded. "He is going to start by helping you paint the nursery."

"That's probably not the best plan. He'll make a mess."

"Booth, we talked about including him so we are sure he doesn't feel left out."

"Yeah, I was thinking he could help me assemble the crib or pick out a quilt. Painting is a lot of work."

"It will be good for him."

"Not for me" grumbled Booth.

"It will be good for the two of you to work on a project together. It will give you the chance to work together towards a goal. Throughout history, this kind of activity has been very relationship affirming for fathers and sons in many different cultures." She began to collect the remains of their lunch to throw in the garbage. "Besides if I give Parker everything he wants, doesn't that mean he's got me wrapped around his little finger? It sounds like a very even distribution of parent to child spoiling to me."

Booth was almost too busy daydreaming about a tiny, piggy tailed Brennan to hear her.

"Booth?"

"Yeah. Parent to child spoiling ratio. Got it."

She shook her head, knowing he didn't really hear her. "I have to go back to the lab. I have an ancient warrior to identify."

"In other words, you'll be late tonight." He stood and came around his desk to where she was standing.

"Probably" she admitted. "But this one is very exciting. If I can uncover his true identity it may reveal the truth behind some ancient Incan folklore."

"Okay, but please come home." Booth never bothered to give her a time. She'd blow right past it without ever looking at a clock. Asking her just to come home was their compromise. He wouldn't get mad at her late hours and she wouldn't stay in the lab all night.

"I will. I promise. But don't wait up for me, Booth."

"Right." Because they both knew that he would. He allowed himself a rare moment of weakness at work. "I miss you when you work late." He drew her to him.

"That's silly. You just saw me and I'll see you later tonight. You have plenty to do. You will be too busy to miss me." But she did indulge him with a long, sweet kiss. "I'll be climbing into bed next to you before you know it." She tried to remember to be good at this kind of thing…the kind of relationship talk that she knew Booth craved sometimes. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do to see him smile.

And she was rewarded with a big grin. "Maybe I'll be waiting for you after all."

"No, don't. You should sleep. You'll need your energy for when I get home." She gave him her very best bedroom eyes.

"Yeah. I'm not going to be able to concentrate on the rest of my day now, Bones." He wasn't really complaining.

"I could just stay at the lab, sleep on the couch, I have a bag…" She was cut off by his kiss.

"Don't…" Kiss. "You…" Kiss. "Dare." He growled, his lips never really leaving hers.

"Have a great day, Booth. I will see you tonight." She whispered seductively in his ear before she disentangled herself, grabbed her bag and left him in his office, grinning like a fool.

* * *

><p>"Hey! How was your baby naming lunch?" Angela appeared in Brennan's office doorway, ever eager to hear all the details of Brennan's pregnancy, just as a best friend should be.<p>

"It was very productive. We have selected a middle name and we have one first name on the list."

"Do I get to know what they are?" Angela asked.

"Her middle name will be Christine." Brennan couldn't help but smile as the name rolled off her tongue. It was illogical, but she suddenly felt more connected to her mother somehow.

"After your mom. That's really sweet, Bren."

"Thanks, Ange."

"What's the first name on the list?"

"Mallory."

"Oh, that's cute!" Angela clapped her hands. "It goes great with Michael. How cute will they be? Mikey and Mallory when they are little. Mike and Mal at the prom? Oh my gosh, they will be the cutest couple ever! If they have a celebrity name it will be M&M!"

"They will be babies, Angela" Brennan wasn't one for getting silly over such a things.

"Brennan, come on, it's just FUN! Mike and Mal will give us gorgeous grandchildren some day. And their initials will be the same when they get married. MH!"

Brennan mentally crossed Mallory off the list but said aloud. "Maybe she'll want to keep her last name."

"Are you going to hyphenate?" Angela came back to Earth, knowing this was something Brennan was struggling with.

"I just don't know, Ange. I like my last name. It's very much a part of my identity. I'd like to pass that on to my child…"

"But?"

"But I'm not sure how Booth will feel about it."

"You haven't told him."

"No."

"She would be Brennan-Booth?"

"Yes, but," she sighed. "I think Booth would likely prefer just Booth. And after all the compromises I've asked him to make, I just wonder if this should be one that I make."

"What compromises is Booth making? He's got a hot girlfriend, a shiny new condo and a baby on the way. Sounds like a good life to me."

"He's Catholic, Angela. Living in sin and babies out of wedlock aren't exactly his favorite thing."

"Bull. You and that baby and Parker are everything to him."

Brennan dropped into her chair and motioned for Angela to close the door. Once she had, Brennan confessed "I told Booth I thought we should get married."

Angela Montenegro Hodgins was almost never at a loss for words. This was one of those rare moments when the words she needed could not get from her brain to her mouth.

"He said no." Brennan added quickly before the excitement in her friend's eyes ignited completely.

"_HE SAID NO?" _Angela had most assuredly found her voice now and it was loud.

"Ange, please keep your voice down."

"I don't understand." Angela was shaking her head, trying to comprehend what she'd just heard. "You, who never wanted to get married, proposed to Booth, who has always wanted to get married, and he said _no_?"

"That is correct."

"Um, that makes no sense. That man is crazy about you." Now Angela found a seat. "You'd better fill me in. Tell me what happened."

Brennan shrugged, trying to appear more nonchalant than she actually felt. "I told him all the reasons I thought we should get married. Legally and for Parker and for his faith, it just works better if we are married."

"Wait, you tried to convince Booth to get married because it's better for legal reasons?"

"Yes. That doctor would have told me what I needed to know if I'd been Booth's wife. And it's better for Parker, too and maybe Booth wouldn't feel the need to go to Confession so often if he wasn't breaking so many rules."

"Sweetie, you cannot logic your way into marriage with Booth."

"That's pretty much what he said."

"So he said no"

"Yes. Well, I guess it was technically 'not now' but it felt like a no." She was still feeling the sting of rejection, even though that wasn't really what it had been.

Angela thought very carefully before she spoke. "Bren, he loves you. And he knows that you love him. Do you think you will be with Booth forever?"

"There is no such thing as forever."

Being married to a scientist and best friends with a scientist and taught Angela a thing or two. "Okay, hypothetically, can you imagine a time when you will not love that man? Because I do not see that happening."

Brennan shook her head. "No. I really can't. But I can't promise that. It will be what it will be for however long it will be. There is no forever. You can't promise a feeling for an unending amount of time. It's illogical and unreasonable. I believe in being able to keep the promises I make. Forever doesn't really allow for that, so by definition, neither does marriage."

"Ok, Sweetie, let's try this another way. Do you love him?"

"Yes. Of course"

"Do you believe that he loves you?"

"I know that he does."

"Do you believe that he would do anything and everything to make things work between you?"

"Yes."

"Would you?"

"Angela, of course I would!"

"So that if you hit a rough patch, a time when things weren't easy or beautiful or fun, a time when maybe you don't like him much or a time when he doesn't like you at that moment, you would be committed to getting back to where you were before you started feeling that way?'

"Yes."

"Sweetie, that is all marriage is. It's a day by day effort for long term results."

"That sounds very logical Angela. I have logical reasons. Apparently what I need is just to know it's right."

"That's what Booth said?"

"Yes." She threw her hands up in defeat. "But I don't think like that."

"For Booth it's not about thinking."

"I'm not like you Angela. I can't just take a chance and hope that it works. I have to have reasons for my choices! Well thought out, logical reasons. All the things Booth doesn't want to hear."

"Just because Booth doesn't want to _hear_ the logic behind them doesn't mean your reasons can't be logical, Bren. Ask yourself if you want to be married to Booth. Because in the end, the answer to that question is the only one that counts. If you don't want to get married, then none of the rest of it matters. If you do, then you just need to tell him what you feel and not what you think. You are a scientist. You are a genius. Figure out how to tell him what is in your heart."

"It's not that easy."

"It's also not that hard."

Brennan smiled sadly "I never believed in marriage."

"And now?"

"Now…now I just don't know anymore."

"But you were willing to do it for Parker and doctors and religion."

"Yes."

"What you really need is to be able to do it for you and for Booth because it's what you want."

"You sound like Booth."

"One day, it will hit you like a truck and everything will fall into place. I know you. You feel deeply, no matter what anyone thinks. And when that time comes, when you realize you want to marry him, you'll find a way to let him know how you got there emotionally in a way that makes logical sense for you. It will be uniquely you and it will make both of you say yes to marriage."

"You think?"

"I really, really do."

"Thank you, Angela."

"You are welcome. Now, I've got a scenarios for our warrior if you want to see them."

"Oh yes!" Brennan shot of her chair. "I would very much like to see them."

Angela chuckled at her friend's enthusiasm. Personally, she found ancient warriors fairly dull. "Okay, let's go take a look real quick. I have a few errands I have to run in a bit."

What Angela actually had was an FBI Agent who needed a good talking to.

_Thank you for reading. Reviews are much appreciated._

.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thanks for the reviews and alerts. You guys are great!_

**Unexpected Variables - Chapter 11**

"Hey, Studly." Angela had decided to go with reason instead of a smack upside her favorite FBI Agent's head. "I brought you some pie." She waved a Styrofoam box at him from his doorway.

"Hi Angela. I'm going to guess this is not a work related visit." He already knew it wasn't. He was honestly a little surprised it had taken her this long to show up.

"Can't a girl come see her friend without having an ulterior motive?" She tried on her best innocent face.

"Uh, no. Not when she comes bearing pie." He was ready for the tongue lashing. He figured the pie was for afterwards to sooth his injuries.

"I'm not going to yell at you, if that's what you are thinking."

"That _is_ what I'm thinking." He put down his pen and motioned for her to close the door behind her and come sit.

"Booth, she offered to marry you and you said no. You had to know I would have something to say about that." She took her seat across from him.

"Actually, I thought you'd be here sooner."

"Yeah, well I've only known for about ninety minutes. I had to recover from the shock and formulate my argument." She smiled. "Then I had to buy pie." She put the box on his desk.

"You know, before you even start, I should remind you that you turned Hodgins down. A lot."

"Yes, I did." Angela conceded. "But that was different."

"How is that different?"

"We aren't the two of you."

"Okay, I'm not a scientist or anything, but even I have to say that argument makes no logical sense."

"Booth, Hodgins might be a scientist, but he is not like Brennan. He's a heart guy. I'm a heart girl. Together, we made a whole heart. But you two? You're the heart guy and she's all brains and logic. Making a whole heart out of that is tough stuff."

"Her heart is bigger than you think." Booth bristled.

"I know her heart is enormous. I do. But let me ask you, what do you want from her?"

He really didn't want to have this conversation with Angela. "I just want her to feel like getting married is what she _wants_ to do for us, not what she _needs_ to do for us."

"And you want some sweeping, epic declaration of love to go with that."

"Well, yeah." God, he sounded like a stereotypical woman in a bad romantic comedy.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe you've already gotten one?"

"Come again?"

"Booth, Brennan doesn't believe in marriage. She never has. The best thing I have ever heard her say about it is that she never found a reason to enter into it. She found the reason. She found several. And you told her they weren't enough."

"They aren't enough Angela. I need more."

"Really? More than her giving up her logical arguments against marriage and agreeing to sign up for a forever she doesn't believe in for _you_? As far as sweeping declarations of love out of Brennan, that one's pretty huge."

He sat for a moment, completely frozen with the realization that Angela was totally correct. His heart pounded in his chest and his mouth went Sahara Desert dry as he realized he had made a giant mistake.

"I am such an ass."

"No,' comforted Angela, "you aren't. It's okay to want to know that she wants to be with you forever because she just straight up loves you. You just have to understand that it may not manifest itself in those words." She fished a fork out of her purse and laid it on top of the container of pie as she stood to leave. "Brennan doesn't do 'bolt of lightening' revelations, Booth. She thinks and thinks and thinks. And when she's done thinking about what she's feeling, she tries to figure out why she feels that way." She put her purse over her shoulder. "I really do think that one day she will want to marry you just because she loves you, and when she does you need to not just hear her, but really, really listen. What you want to hear will be in there somewhere. You just might need to interpret it out of logic talk and into English."

"So, what do I do now? I screwed up." He had. He'd screwed up big time and now he had to pray that wasn't his only shot at marrying the most amazing woman he'd ever known.

"I don't know" confessed Angela. "I hate to tell you to wait it out, because I know you guys and the wait could go on for decades. But you can't push, either."

"Yeah." Booth looked so completely unhappy that Angela felt worse for him than she ever had for Hodgins when she'd said no.

"It'll be okay, Booth. The right time will come and when it does, you will both know it."

"I hope you're right."

"I am. I refuse to think otherwise. Just…don't give up on her."

"Never." He swore.

She walked to the door, turned back and said "Enjoy your pie" then sauntered out, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

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><p><em>Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your thoughts, but I don't have any pie to offer in return.<em>


	12. Chapter 12

_Thanks for sticking with me, folks, and for all the kind comments!_

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 12**

It was just after 2am when she slid into bed next to him, a long, satisfying day behind her. All she really wanted was sleep. But she'd made promises. Or at least, she had made allusions. So when his arm snaked around her she suspected that sleep was a little ways off. Not that she minded. While sometimes their relationship was, and had always been, marked by the need to figure each other out, the bedroom was one place their individual needs had always been instantly understood by one another.

So she was quite surprised when she turned and saw his eyes not filled with desire, but with something else she couldn't quite define.

"What's wrong?"

He smiled the smallest of smiles, one she could barely see in the moonlight that broke through the shades into the darkened room.

"Nothing."

Now she was scared. Something was off. Different. Usually, when she slipped into bed after he was asleep, he'd wrap one arm around her and when she turned, he'd brush her hair back from her face, look into her eyes and he'd kiss her. It was always her favorite moment of the night because it had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with intimacy. Even in the short time they'd been together, really, truly together, she'd come to recognize and rely upon and adore this predictability: arm around her waist, turn, hair, eyes, kiss.

But this was different and she just knew something had changed.

"Booth, what is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're…different. Did something happen?"

"No."

"Humans don't just change their patterns of behavior without provocation. You have a very distinctive way of approaching sex when I come to bed after you and you've deviated from that pattern. Something has changed."

He sighed. Life with her would never be simple. "Yeah. Something's changed."

She sat up now, her heart racing. Although she hadn't wanted to think about it, she'd dreaded this moment since he'd told her he couldn't marry her. She'd known, _known_ it was going to happen.

"So this is the part where you end it?"

"End…end what?"

"Us. Your history has demonstrated that after a marriage proposal it's unlikely that your relationship will stay intact. I had hoped this time might be different since you weren't the one who did the asking, but I suppose I can see how you would still be uncomfortable, which in turn would…"

"STOP!" He shook his head. "Stop, Bones. No one is ending anything."

Relief flooded her. "Oh. Okay. Good." She could hear her heart beating in her ears.

He sat up too, rubbed his hand over his face. "Why would you even think that?"

"I told you. Hannah, Rebecca…I guess it was in the back of my mind that your pattern might be continued."

"My pattern?" That hurt. "That's how much you think of us? That I'd bail because I turned you down?"

"Well, technically I guess you didn't turn me down, so we can't count that as part of your pattern."

"Stop calling it a pattern, alright?"

"Okay. I'm…I'm sorry. Today was a good day. We started the name list, we chose a middle name and when I left I promised you sex tonight and now you're weird and different and I just…" she sighed. "There are still a lot of days when I have a hard time believing things can just be easy."

"Bones, I'm not sure we will ever be easy, but I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

She nodded. "But something is different."

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"Angela came to see me today. She had a few choice words for me."

"I never should have told her, Booth. I should have known she'd meddle."

"She's your best friend. It's what best friends do."

"What did she say to you?"

"It's not what she said, it's what she helped me realize."

"I think I'm nervous."

He laughed. "Don't be. I think it's good."

She knew Angela better than he did. She couldn't be as sure. "What is it?"

He became more serious. "Bones, I was waiting for you to just…to just, you know, be engulfed by how much you love me. I thought that it would just hit you like a bolt of lightening and you'd just want to get married. You'd just know."

"Yes. You indicated that."

"But Angela pointed out that you have some very core beliefs and that one of them is that you don't believe in marriage and you do believe in logic. So to use logic to try to give me what I want, to use logic to convince yourself to give up your core beliefs…that's love."

"Booth…"

"No, it's enough. It is. I thought it wasn't but that's because I didn't see it for what it really was. To put your logic aside for me is a very Bonesy way to show you love me. And I'm an ass because I missed it."

"Booth…"

"I'm sorry Bones…"

"Please, just stop." She put two fingers to his lips to hush him. "I didn't give up anything. I believed in my argument. It made logical sense. It still does. Sometimes what I say is what I mean, no matter what Angela tells you."

"I disagree."

"The two of you don't always know better, you know. I am perfectly capable of identifying my own feelings."

"Of course you are. I didn't mean to imply that you aren't."

"You didn't_ imply_ it at all. You just said that you disagree with my statement that I mean what I say."

"In this case…"

"No! Not in this case. It's over. It's done. I suggested marriage, you said no, it's over. Let's move on."

"I said not yet, not no. There's a difference."

"Fine. Not yet, then."

"I'm trying to tell you that I've changed my mind."

She considered him carefully. She knew her next words were important to their future. And she knew what she had to say.

"The offer is no longer on the table."

* * *

><p><em>Wait, what? Reviews are much appreciated.<em>


	13. Chapter 13

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 13**

"The offer is off the table? What the hell does that mean?"

She knew he was hurt, and it was manifesting itself in anger. She knew why. He felt like she was rejecting him, just as he'd been rejected before. She hurried to explain.

"It's not a no. Like you, it's a not yet. My offer the other day, despite what Angela says, was made from a logical perspective. You told me it wasn't enough. You said that I had to feel it in my metaphorical soul, to just know it was the right thing." She found his hand in the darkness. "I want to give you that. To know, the way you want me to. Just like you didn't want me to approach it with logic, I don't want you to say yes because Angela interpreted what I said and you like her interpretation. Angela isn't in this…we are. Aren't we the only ones who can know what is right for us?"

His silence screamed at her for a moment until he said." Yeah. Yeah, Bones. You're right." But he wouldn't look at her.

"Booth, are you happy being with me? I mean, until I brought this up a few days ago, weren't we doing okay? Weren't we happy?"

Now he looked at her. His need to reassure her would always trump everything else. He'd learned that long ago. "Bones, I have never been happier." His voice resonated with sincerity.

"Then let's do what you said. Let's be together and raise our baby and do our jobs and just, just _live. _Let's stop making everything so difficult all the time." She squeezed his hand. "We can't know what the future will hold. But I do know that I have a life I would never have expected with a man I love. There was a time I didn't even_ believe_ in love. You changed that. And my view on marriage has changed too. There was a time when I would have said never. Instead, I'm only saying not yet. You asked me to understand the difference. Can you understand the difference now?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry if I'm hurting you."

He smiled a sad smile. "I love you, Bones. The things you're saying, they make sense. It's just not quite how I thought this conversation would go."

'I'm sorry," she said again.

"Don't be. You're right. It's about us. We should trust ourselves to get it right."

"I promise you that if one day I am just overwhelmed by the desire to get married, you will be the first to know."

"Can I ask you for something?"

"Anything." She'd promise him just about anything to ease the sting she felt she'd just inflicted.

"When you're ready, when it's time, can you let me do the asking?"

"You'd prefer to be traditional."

"I just want to hear you say yes."

"I will remember that." She searched his eyes. "Are we okay?"

"Bones, we will always be okay. Always. It might take some work and some communication and some understanding and some compromising, but you and me? We're solid. As long as you stick with me, I will be here."

"I'm not going anywhere."

He decided not to mention that that sounded decidedly like a forever statement. He still thought Angela was right, but he also knew that Brennan herself had to know it, too. Instead he kissed her, a little to soothe his hurt, but mostly to prove that he was crazy about her, about them, and always would be.

She returned his kiss equally, so thankful for his understanding and patient heart.

They had not been together so long that a kiss in bed wouldn't lead to something more. There were very few chaste "goodnights" in the Brennan/Booth household.

That night would be no exception.

* * *

><p>Things were uneventful for a while. They settled into a comfortable pattern of work and domesticity with an amount of togetherness that might have driven any other couple crazy.<p>

They reveled in it. Monday lunches were always set aside for baby naming, though little headway was made. He dropped her at the lab on his way in to the Hoover, picked her up and took her home at days' end. If he wasn't chasing down a lead or interviewing witnesses he often showed up with lunch on days besides Mondays, as well, though no names were discussed.

Brennan decided she was getting bigger than she would like and blamed their propensity for picking up take out. So they began cooking together almost every night, trying new recipes often. Some were excellent, and filed away for future use. Some were acceptable, but unremarkable and one ended in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for both of them.

It is, sometimes, the most ordinary days that become extraordinary within the span of a moment.

"Booth!" her voice was shrill from the bedroom in a way he was quite sure he'd never heard before. He threw down the dishtowel onto the counter and ran.

"Booth!" Louder now, more insistent, and he was there in seconds, where he found her half reclined on the bed, propped up with numerous pillows behind her.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He scanned the room looking for something, _anything_, that could possibly have made her voice go up an octave like that.

"Just…just watch." She hitched up her tank top to expose her now twenty-eight week pregnant belly.

He looked. He stared for a long time. He was quiet until he saw…nothing. Nothing at all. "I don't see anything, Bones."

"She's going to make a liar out of me." Brennan complained. "And I don't lie."

"No, you don't. What happened?"

"Let me just move a little bit." She got up and walked into the master bathroom, washed her face, drank some water and came back to the bed, laying on her side this time. "Come closer." She crooked her finger and urged him closer with it in a way that made Booth wonder if that particular mom-like finger waggle became ingrained once a woman became pregnant.

"What?"

"Just wait."

He dropped to his knees next to the bed in front of her stomach and waited.

Then he saw it. A tiny little nudge from within her. Barely a ripple, he could see where their daughter was kicking her mother. His Bones.

"Whoa." He wanted to look at her face but was too afraid to take his eyes off her belly for fear of missing it if it happened again.

"Go ahead." She said, grabbing his hand and placing it on the spot that had moved from inside her. "You've been waiting for this."

He waited in awe until he felt another kick and then he just started to laugh. "She's strong! I think she has your long legs."

"Or your big feet." She teased.

"All the better for cool socks, Bones."

The baby kicked again and Booth leaned in to speak with his daughter. "Hi Baby Girl. Mama's been feeling you for a while, but I kept missing it. Thanks for waking up to play tonight." He kissed Brennan's belly and immediately took a shot to the face. "Feisty like her mama!" He proclaimed proudly, a wild grin on his face.

But his face fell when he looked at his partner.

She was crying.

"Hey, hey, hey." He soothed, moving away from her stomach and coming to sit by her on the bed. "What's wrong?"

She gave a short, teary laugh. "Nothing. Everything's perfect. Everything is just…just perfect."

He kissed her softly. "Yeah." He beamed. "I know the feeling."

And he did.

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><p><em>See? I <strong>can<strong> write one with no cliffhanger! Please review. Thanks for reading!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Thank you for all the reviews and alerts. You guys know how to make a girl happy!_

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 14**

She was watching him and he knew it. She was cataloging something, noticing something, studying _something, _and with anyone else it would have been a bit unnerving, but it was Bones, so he figured his life would always consist of some of this. While he wondered what she was making note of, he was determined not to ask. He figured there were some things he was better off not knowing.

"What did you parents do to make you the way you are?" She asked cryptically during one of their unscheduled, non baby naming lunches.

"Huh?" He had a mouth full of sandwich.

"Or Pops, I guess. What did they do to make you the way you are?"

He swallowed. "The way I am? How am I?"

"You know, so…Boothy."

"Sorry, Bones, I'm gonna need a little clarification on that one."

She munched on some snap peas while she considered her answer. Laying her free hand on her belly she said "Well, you're very considerate. You hold doors for people. Last week you helped that store clerk pick up the inventory she dropped. You think of people's feelings and try to treat them accordingly. You're honest and polite. You're brave. You're smart; smarter than you let on, actually, which I don't understand, but it seems to work in your favor. You genuinely care about people, even people you don't know. You're just…good, Booth, and I would like to know how that came to be."

He smiled. She didn't give compliments easily or often but when she did his heart always swelled. It made him feel like he might actually be the person she saw in him.

"Well," he said after a moment, "I think some of it was my mom."

"Mary-Margaret." she said, remembering.

"Yeah. She was big on manners. We always had to be polite and helpful. Pops was the same. My father," his eyes darkened and she knew why, "he demanded respect, so he didn't get it. We were afraid of him, but we didn't respect him. I always wanted to do right by my mom and Pops because I wanted them to be proud of me. I didn't care much what my dad thought."

"But all those things that make you you, Jared grew up with too. And he is not like you at all." She hated the subject of Jared and all the ways he was and was not Booth, but she was trying to analyze data and he was a necessary factor.

"Jared." Booth said with a sigh. "Jared just took a different path than I did. He's more like my dad. It's all about him. I guess I could have gone that way, too, at one point, but I didn't."

"You could never have been like Jared." She shook her head vehemently. "He's…he's fundamentally different. I just wondered how you became who you are. You have qualities I would like our child to possess. I see them in Parker. I want to know how to bring them out in our daughter."

"She's part you and part me, Bones. She is who she is."

"I would like very much for her to have my intellect."

He sensed a "but" so he waited before he spoke.

"But, overall I think I would prefer she be more like you."

"Why?"

"You are better with people. You are able to feel and see things…things I miss. You understand jokes and pop culture. You are kind, considerate and honest without being harsh. In general, I find you to be more well rounded than I am, which I feel, makes life easier to navigate. I want that for our daughter."

"See, I think I would prefer she be like you."

"Why?" Now it was her turn to wonder.

"Well, because Bones, you're brilliant and loyal and while your face is gorgeous, the most beautiful part about you is your heart. I would like it if she had a beautiful heart."

His words took her breath away.

"I think your heart is beautiful, too." She truly meant it.

"Well," he said, throwing the remnants of his lunch away, "sounds like she can't miss in the heart department." He grinned.

"Or looks." Brennan added. "Both her parents are very attractive. We're both intelligent as well."

"Okay, so she'll be good looking with big brains and a big heart." He winked at his partner. "I think she'll be just fine in life with that combo."

"She still has to be a nice person, though. Those other things won't get you very far if you are insufferable."

"You sound just like a mom."

Her eyes widened. "You think?"

He stopped to really look at her as she sat across from him. With her rounded belly, her hair thicker than before, a permanent rosy tinge to her cheeks and now a charmingly innocent expression of delight and wonder on her face, Booth hadn't known he could fall more in love with her than he already had.

But just right then, he did.

"Bones, don't doubt yourself. You're going to be a great mom."

"How did you know I've been doubting myself?"

"I wasn't sure until you said that."

She sighed. "There are so many books, Booth, and websites and people with advice and all of them have different programs and systems and methods. I don't even know where to begin."

"You know, Bones, you are going to hate my answer, but it's the truth. Are you ready?"

"I always want the truth. You know that."

"Okay." He paused dramatically. "You are going to have to trust your gut."

She tilted her head at him with a look of semi-irritation on her face. "My gut?"

"Yeah, Bones. Your gut. Or your maternal instincts or whatever you want to call it. It's the little voice inside your head that will tell you what to do. What works best for you and Mallory."

"First of all, Mallory is off the list. Angela calling the two babies M&M all the time ruined all M names for me. Secondly…" She looked insecure.

"Secondly what?"

"What if I don't have any?"

"Any maternal instinct?" Booth was completely bowled over that she would even contemplate such a thing.

"Yes. Science has proven that it's not innate within all mothers. How else do you account for infanticide? Or women who give their children up for some other lifestyle? Women who walk away from their children because they don't…" She couldn't finish the last one.

"Your mother did not walk away because she wanted a different life. She ran because she wanted to protect you. You know that."

She looked down at her hands, resting on her abdomen. "She's not here to teach me what I need to know."

He came around to her side of the desk and leaned down, one hand on the desk, one on the arm of her chair, effectively pinning her in and forcing her to look him in the eye. "Now you listen to me. We just finished talking about your big heart. Everything you need to be a great mom is right in there." He took his hand off her desk and touched her chest, right over her heart, with one finger.

"Booth, the heart is a muscle…"

"What you need is in there. And if it's not?" He moved his finger to the side of her forehead. "It's in here."

"I don't know anything about babies. I have little to no experience with them. I wanted a baby, even a few years ago, but now that I'm so close to her being here I find that there is so much I don't know."

"Here." His finger was at her heart again. "And here." His finger on her scalp. "And here" He pointed at himself. "You've got me, Bones. And if we can't figure it out we have Angela and Hodgins. Even Cam. If all else fails we have your Dad or Russ and Amy. But have we ever failed at anything we've decided to do together?"

She shook her head, eyes glistening. "No" came out in a strangled whisper.

"And we aren't about to start with our daughter, okay?"

"Okay."

"Promise me you won't worry about this."

"I won't. Worrying never solves anything."

He studied her face and decided to pretend to accept her answer. He kissed her quickly and said "Good. Now, I have to get back to work. I've got a two o'clock with Hacker."

She pasted on a smile and told him she'd see him later.

He barely heard her as her walked out of her office.

Special Agent Seeley Booth was already working on a plan.

* * *

><p><em>I so appreciate reviews. Thanks for reading!<em>


	15. Chapter 15

_We are nearing the end. Maybe two to go after this. Enjoy!_

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 15**

While Booth was in an excruciatingly dull meeting with Hacker, going over the finer points of a presentation they had to make the following week, Brennan was in her office working on a plan of her own. Typing and reading furiously, she didn't even hear Cam come in.

"What are you working on so intently?" Cam wondered aloud, noticing the crinkle of concentration in between Brennan's eyes.

"Cam! Perfect. What can you tell me about Booth's family?"

"Uh, isn't that more of a question for Booth?"

"Yes, of course, but I'm trying to surprise him with something and you've known him the longest."

"Oh! Okay, well, what are you looking for? Memories?"

"No, not necessarily. Names, mostly. I can search better with more names."

"So you're running some genealogy?"

"Yes, a family tree of sorts. I know very little about them. The more information I can input, the more accurate my search will be."

"Well, I doubt I know much more than you. Joseph is his father, Jared obviously is his brother, their mother I want to say was Mary, maybe? I'm not sure."

"Yes. Mary-Margaret. I…" she swallowed what she was about to say about John Wilkes Booth and instead said "I can find clear lineage on his father's side, but I'm mostly interested in his mother's side."

Cam thought for a moment. "He told me once that her father was from Ireland and disapproved of her marriage to his father. He'd wanted her to marry a nice Irish boy."

"But she married a wife beater instead." Her eyes clouded at the thought.

"Yeah, she did. Does Booth talk about that much?"

"Not really, no."

"I think it's nice that you're researching it for him."

"It's a surprise," Brennan reminded Cam, "so please keep it under your cap."

"I will most definitely keep it there." Cam grinned.

"Did you need something?" Brennan asked.

"I was going to discuss your maternity leave with you, but seem very busy, so it can wait."

"Thank you, Cam."

"Sure." Cam turned to leave Brennan's office but remembered something and turned back. "There's an aunt."

"What?"

"Several years ago I took a phone message from a woman who said she was Booth's aunt. I remember because she wondered if I was his wife and when I rushed to correct her she was disappointed. She said she hoped he'd found happiness. Wanted to meet him for coffee."

"Did he go?"

"I think he did. He never mentioned it, though. I remember that she said her name was Catherine."

"Why would you remember that?" Brennan was truly curious.

"It's my favorite grandmother's name." She shrugged. "Good luck!"

Brennan went back to her work, armed with her new information.

* * *

><p>When Booth arrived to pick her up at the end of the day, Brennan seemed more energized than usual. At thirty one weeks she was usually exhausted by day's end and, missing the energy that had left along with the second trimester. Typically she was more than ready to go home, a side effect of pregnancy Booth was thoroughly enjoying.<p>

"Hey Bones!" he said, bounding into her office. "You ready?"

"Sit." She commanded.

"Sit?"

"Yes. I mean, have a seat. I want to show you something."

It was only then that he noticed the easel of paper she had set up opposite of where she urged him to sit down.

"What's going on?"

"I did some research."

"Research? On what, exactly?"

"Your family. Specifically, your mother."

"My mother?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"We are having a daughter, Booth. Besides me, she has no close familial females. We both have brothers, our mothers and grandmothers are gone. I thought it would be nice to know more about the line of women she comes from."

Sometimes he couldn't follow her thinking, but who was he to stomp on her obvious excitement? "Okay, Bones. Hit me."

She knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

"Tell me what you've got."

"Oh! Yes!" She flipped over the first page to reveal the words "Mary-Margaret Hadley Booth and Catherine Colleen Hadley."

"Your mother had a sister."

"My Aunt Catherine."

"Yes. You knew her?" She didn't say what she already knew.

"I had some contact with her about fifteen years ago. Coffee twice. After that Christmas cards and an occasional note…she sent some booties when Parker was born, I think. One year I got my Christmas card returned to sender. I figured she had died."

"She did. In 2004. Cancer. Like your mother. She'd never married or had any children."

He nodded. He felt guilty he'd missed her funeral. She'd been a sweet woman.

Brennan flipped over to the next page. "Your grandparents were Declan Bain Hadley and Aileen Breck O'Connor Hadley. Your grandmother was an only child, but your grandfather had seven sisters: Bridget, Cristiona, Diedra, Fiona, Niamh, Glenna and Kathleen. They all had at least two daughters as well. Glenna herself had seven girls, just as she was one of seven." She'd drawn quite the lineage map.

"Bones…"

"The point of all this is that I thought a family name would be meaningful. Something that has a little bit of your mother in it. If the baby has my mother's name as a middle name, then maybe something from your mother's side of your family would be nice."

She'd gone to a lot of trouble and he was really touched, but he couldn't help himself. "But it's not Monday, Bones." He teased.

She shot him a dirty look and continued on. "So I made a list." She flipped the page again. "Here are the female names from your mother's side of the family, going back several years."

Indeed, in addition to the ones she had pointed out earlier, there were three long columns of names, all the way back to the eighteen hundreds.

"I didn't have time to go further back." She explained.

He looked at the list in awe. She'd done a lot of work. "How long did this take you?"

"Most of this afternoon." She admitted and he laughed. It would take anyone else days.

"I have to be honest, though" She said sadly. "In all those names, I only really like one."

"One out of all of these? How many are there?"

"Well, I didn't write any doubles down twice. There were several Kathleens and Deidras and Maeves and such. I think there are one hundred and seventeen on the list, without duplicates."

"One hundred seventeen?" He stood to take a closer look. She'd had to write smaller to fit them all on the page.

"Yes. You have a very large family."

"What name do you like?"

"It's not on there."

"I thought you wrote them all down." Now he was confused.

"I did, but after I was finished I realized that my favorite name didn't make the list at all."

He turned to her now, genuinely curious as to how, in a list of names from his family tree, the family name she liked the best wasn't on it.

"I think…" she hesitated. Now that she knew what she wanted, she was afraid he wouldn't like it. "I think we should name her Hadley."

" My…my mother's maiden name?"

"Yes. I think it's a nice choice. It's not common, but certainly not unheard of. It has meaning, it connects our daughter to your mother, Christine sounds very nice with it and…" She smiled.

"And what?"

"I like how it sounds with Parker. Parker and Hadley." She didn't tell him how in one of her very uncommon, fanciful moments she'd envisioned signing Christmas cards with all four of their names on it.

He slowly turned back around to look at the more than one hundred names on the list. "Hadley" he said quietly, testing it on his tongue.

She couldn't tell what he was thinking, which made her feel uncertain. Maybe she'd overstepped some boundary she was unaware of. Maybe he thought it was a terrible idea.

"All this work…" he just kept looking at all the names on the list with awe.

Her heart sank. "It was just a suggestion. Like the other names, really. I just thought…"

He turned and stopped her mid sentence with "You're amazing, Bones. This is…this is unbelievable."

"I read up on a few of them. Some of them had amazing stories. I think it would be nice if we knew more about them."

He smiled. It reached his eyes and touched her heart all at once. "Hadley."

"Yeah."

"I like it."

"You do?" Relief flooded her. She didn't realize just how much she loved the name until she thought he might reject it.

"I really do. It's…it's perfect."

"So….we've decided?" She wanted him to be as sure as she was.

"We've decided. Hadley Christine." He liked the way it sounded as much as she did.

With nine weeks to spare and minimal bickering, Brennan and Booth had named their daughter.

And it wasn't even a Monday.

* * *

><p><em>Please review. Thank for reading!<em>


	16. Chapter 16

_Special thanks to Baileyjane for letting me bounce my ideas off of her._

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 15**

"I don't understand." She said, straightening his tie for him. "I thought the presentation was here in DC."

_"_It was_. _But then someone figured out it makes more sense for Hacker and me to go_ there_ than for all those guys to come _here__."_

"Budgetary restrictions?" She stepped back to survey her work.

"It's cheaper this way." Booth confirmed. "You can live without me for just one night, can't ya, Bones?" He loved to tease her, but there was truth in his lightness, too. He didn't do well when she was gone; he liked to think she felt the same when he was absent from their bed.

"I lived alone for many years, Booth. I'm sure I can manage one more night." She stepped forward to give his tie one last tug.

He tried not to let his face fall in the slightest. But then she leaned into him, pretended to adjust his collar in the back and whispered:

"Besides, back then I only had ideas of what having you in my bed would be like. Now I have the reality to dream about until you return." It was hot and breathless and throaty in his ear and better than anything he could have imagined she would say.

"You are making me not want to go, Bones." He moaned as she stepped away from him once again.

"Just think of what's waiting for you when you get back home." She smiled up at his face through her eyelashes.

"I have to go." He was convincing himself more than her.

"I know." She didn't really mind that he was leaving. Sometimes being alone for a bit was rather nice. But she would most certainly look forward to his return. "What time are you leaving?"

"Right after lunch. We'll make the drive today so we can be set up and ready to go tomorrow morning at seven."

"But you'll come by for lunch first?"

"Yep. And I've got something to show you, so be prepared to have your socks knocked off."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Does this thing you are going to show me involve the need to lock my office door and close the blinds?"

"No," he said with a laugh. "But I think you will be very impressed."

"I'm intrigued." She admitted. 'Can I have a hint?"

"Nope."

"Fine. I'll see you at lunch." She kissed his cheek and gathered her bag and keys, and left to drive herself to work for the first time in a while.

As soon as the door was shut, he clapped his hands and rubbed them together in anticipation. It was time to put the final stages of his plan into action.

* * *

><p>"The Eagle has landed."<p>

"Hodgins, can you just be normal?" Angela always called him Hodgins when he was bordering on too geeky for her liking.

"Fine. Booth's here. Is that better?" He rolled his eyes into the phone.

She smiled into her phone at her end of the conversation. "Much better. Thanks." She hung up and went into Brennan's office.

"Hey Sweetie, when I dropped Mikey off at daycare this morning, they said they had a packet for you. I'm about to walk down there. Wanna go?" She had strict instructions to get Brennan out of the lab for at least fifteen minutes.

Brennan looked up from her desk. "Can you just pick it up for me? I have to finish this report and Booth should be here soon for lunch."

Angela weighed her options and decided she didn't have time to mess around. " Okay, here's the thing. I'm supposed to get you out of here for no less than fifteen minutes so Booth can set up something in your office. So you need to get up and come with me now, because he is in the structure waiting for the all clear and you know how he hates that parking garage."

"So you're in on whatever this thing is that he is going to show me?"

"In on? No. I have no idea what he's doing. I just know I'm supposed to get you out of here, so let's go. In the words of your man, chop, chop."

Brennan sat frozen for a moment, suddenly paralyzed by the idea that something with this much preparation and secrecy could mean he was going to propose.

But he wouldn't do that.

Would he?

With no apparent choice but to follow Angela, Brennan slowly left her seat and tried to swallow her nerves as her friend chatted merrily and they left the lab area.

"The cat is away." Hodgins murmured into the phone as he watched his wife and Brennan walked towards the daycare.

"The cat is away? You know you can just say 'She's gone,' right? This isn't some super covert mission." Booth was amused at the bug man's attempt to be sly.

"None of you are any fun." huffed Hodgins as he disconnected the call.

Booth shook his head, gathered his laptop and other supplies, took a deep breath and headed into the Jeffersonian.

* * *

><p>Angela was a good friend and took her job very seriously. She kept Brennan away for twenty three minutes before she was certain the anthropologist would kill her if she delayed returning to the lab even one more second. Still, pleased she had accomplished her mission, she joined her husband on the platform where he was pretending to look busy.<p>

"Is he in there?" she asked, taking a seat on a stool next to him, her eyes never leaving Brennan's office.

"Yeah. He had take out, a laptop and a box of other stuff. Looked like he was going to make a presentation." He turned now, too, to face Brennan's office.

"A presentation? Well that's…weird."

"Sort of anti-climactic, right?"

"Yeah. Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not sure. That's why I said it _looked like_ he was going to make a presentation."

"Oh, I get it. You're still grumpy about that 'Eagle has landed' thing."

"I was being covert, Ange. In a lab full of top secret information I would think it would be appreciated."

"Booth shot it down, too, did he?"

"Yeah! I don't understand you people."

She smiled and patted his hand reassuringly. "Of all of us, I'm sure you were the most secretive."

"Damn straight." He asserted. Then, getting over it, he said "So what do we do now? Just sit here and wait for the fallout?"

"What makes you think there will be fallout?"

"It's Booth and Brennan. There's almost always fallout."

And suddenly, Angela Montenegro Hodgins was very nervous, too. "You think? I think it's been better, don't you?"

Now it was her husband's turn to be reassuring. "I'm sure it will be fine." But secretly, he worried about what was going on in Brennan's office.

* * *

><p>"Hiya, Bones." Booth was perched against her desk.<p>

"Hello." She regarded him with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity that made him smile.

"I've been working on something since last week. I'm a little nervous to show you, but I think you'll like it."

"Okay."

"Relax. I'm not talking marriage here."

She did relax internally, but didn't let on. "I didn't think you were." She had learned, in her time with him, that sometimes a little fib is a good thing.

"Sit down." He motioned to a chair he had set up across from a projection screen. He handed her a takeout container. "Lunch?"

"Thank you." She smiled, taking the container from him. "So what do you have to show me?"

"Okay, this isn't exactly my area of expertise." He dimmed the lights a bit. "So, please cut me a little slack if it's not totally right." He clicked something on his laptop and the screen lit up.

She gasped a little and read the title of his presentation out loud. "Temperance Brennan Will Be an Amazing Mother: A Scientific Theory by Seeley Booth."

She turned to him. "You wrote a scientific theory for me?"

"I knew you couldn't live with my answer of having to trust your gut. I wanted to show you how I know you'll be a great mom."

"By using science." She was nearly speechless and the lump in her throat was enormous.

"Like I said, not exactly my area of expertise, but I gave it a shot." He grinned like a fool, immensely proud of himself already. "Here we go."

The first screen showed a printout of all her prenatal doctor's appointments. "It's a fact that prenatal care is essential for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. You have, to date, had no less than nine appointments and two ultrasounds. You have never missed one or even rescheduled. This shows me an innate care for the health of our daughter."

"Booth…" she was completely overwhelmed.

He continued on, doing his best to sound somewhat scholarly and lecture-like.

"Fact number two: Parker loves you. He thinks you are awesome. This shows an incredible ability to bond with and relate to a child." He clicked to the screen to match his fact. It was a picture of Brennan and Parker laughing about something. She'd never seen the picture before and it made her smile.

"Fact number three," A picture of some case files this time. "In cases in the past, you have always cared for juvenile victims and suspects with great care and empathy, demonstrating a level of kindness many people underestimate. I can name several examples, but to keep it short I will give only three: Shawn Cook, Samantha Winslow and Baby Andy. You came through for them all, understanding what they needed and finding it for them, when it was well beyond what you were required to do. Your compassion for these kids was astounding. As a side note, I know you still send a check to Andy's parents to help cover his medical bills, which is just another example of your capacity to love."

She was beginning to get a very clear picture of just how much he thought he had put into his presentation and it made her heart catch.

He clicked over to a picture of the charts and lists she had made about his family history.

"Fact number four: You spent a lot of time finding the perfect name for our child and digging up my family's history. That shows an understanding of the importance of family, a key factor in a happy childhood."

"Fact Five: Your students love and respect you. You expect the best, but allow for mistakes, you support them in every way, including financially in some cases. This demonstrates an ability to support, nurture and teach while encouraging independence and growth. A good parent does the same." A picture of the squints in front of the lab. "I got the picture from Wendell." He admitted.

She simply sat in stunned silence, so he forged ahead.

"Finally, fact six: You love me. You take care of me. You sat in on my brain surgery. You make sure there is nutritious food in the house. You badger me into my follow up doctor appointments, you yell at me about my seatbelt and you seem to always know what I need to feel better on a bad day. No one else can do that for me the way you do. It will be the same for our baby, I know."

"So, in summation: Your compassion, your heart, your empathy, your support, your care and your love are evident in everything you do. These are the qualities that make an amazing parent. Ergo, you, Temperance Brennan, will be an amazing mother." He clicked back to his opening page and tried to gauge what she might be thinking. It was hard to tell, from where he was positioned behind her.

She would never tell him his science was flawed. She would never tell him this didn't actually count as a scientific theory. She would never tell him some of his facts weren't actual facts and that some of his evidence was anecdotal at best. But she did tell him the truth.

"This is the best thing you have ever given me." She stood and faced him, her eyes swimming with tears of love and gratitude. "Thank you, Booth."

"You feel better now?"

She nodded. "Infinitely." And she really did. She crossed to where he stood, took either side of his head in her hands and kissed him with every ounce of adoration and affection she had for him, which, at that exact moment was more than ever before.

When they came up for air, he leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you." He whispered softly.

"I love you, too."

He stepped back and grabbed a box off her desk. "If you ever need to reference my little theory, here's a hard copy of the presentation, complete with everything I said to go with the pictures." He handed her the box and then tipped her chin up with two fingers to look into his eyes. "Don't doubt yourself for a minute, Bones. You are going to be great."

"I believe you." she smiled. "I have the evidence I needed."

"Good." He smiled back. "You hungry?"

"Famished."

"Then let's eat. I've got to take off soon."

"I wish you didn't have to go." She said, taking herself by surprise. That morning it hadn't sounded so bad, but now? Now she wanted to just curl up into him and keep him to herself. She wasn't sure when she became that kind of woman, but she didn't feel like fighting it.

"Me too. I'd much rather spend time with you than Hacker."

"He's not so bad."

"He's not, but he's not you."

"No one is." She pointed out.

"You couldn't be more right about that."

* * *

><p><em>Thank you for reading. Reviews are much appreciated.<em>


	17. Chapter 17

_Thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts. I really appreciate you all!_

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 17**

The first contractions came on a Sunday, late in her thirty-seventh week. Brennan sent Booth and Parker off to church, looking handsome in their crisp shirts and ties, completely unaware that every ten to twelve minutes for the last hour she'd had to grit her teeth through some fairly sharp pain. Knowing how Booth would react, meaning he would hover and worry, she had decided to see if things progressed before she mentioned it.

They didn't. By the time the boys had returned the contractions had stopped and the three of them proceeded to have a very nice afternoon together. The only thing that had changed was a small suitcase that now stood packed by the front door.

Tuesday, the first day of her thirty-eighth week, while she was at the lab, the contractions came back a little longer each time, a little stronger each time and she was just wondering if she should perhaps tell Booth this time when they stopped. She kept it to herself. Booth was edgy enough knowing it could happen any time. Knowing things had actually begun would only make him worse.

That night, she put her suitcase in the back of the SUV, just in case.

But it was early Thursday morning, in Bone Storage, that the contractions began and did not go away. When it became obvious she wasn't going to be able to hide what was happening from her coworkers and friends for very long, she locked herself in her office and ignored them all. She did not believe there was any hurry. The contractions were still quite far apart and she could still easily speak through them, so she did not see the need to have everyone spinning out of control, as she was sure they would. They were all worriers. They would hover and nervously ask her if she shouldn't go to the hospital or at least, call Booth and then he would come and nervously hover with them and urge her to go to the hospital.

But she had read the books and taken the classes and she knew there was still a lot of time.

At eleven thirty Booth called to tell her he had to go interview a witness, so he wouldn't make their tentative lunch date.

"That's fine, Booth. I'm not very hungry."

"You should eat, though, Bones. Don't keep working through until dinner."

"I won't."

"And maybe you should see if Angela can get you home."

"Why?"

"I'm headed to Bedford County, Pennsylvania. It's two hours from here. By the time I get there, talk to the guy and get back, it will probably be past five o'clock, so see if Angela or Cam can drop you at home."

Brennan debated. Essentially, he could be as far as two hours away if she needed him. She knew he could probably turn on lights and sirens and make it in ninety minutes if he needed to. And really, she was still very early in what appeared to be active labor…

"That's fine, Booth. I'm sure someone can take me where I need to go."

Her cryptic phrasing gave him pause for a moment, but then he dismissed it as one of her quirks. "I'll bring home some take-out. No cooking tonight."

"No. No cooking tonight." She could feel the tightening in her abdomen begin as she answered him and couldn't help but gasp.

"Are you okay, Bones?"

A contraction hit right then, a strong one, and she found herself unable to reply immediately, which set off all of Booth's alarm bells.

"Bones?"

No answer.

"Bones!" He was already turning the SUV around to go back towards the Jeffersonian.

"Perhaps it would be wiser if you didn't go." She conceded when she was able to talk.

"Is it time?" His voice went up a bit with a hint of panic.

"I have been having contractions for the better part of the morning."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"Booth, is that the siren?"

"Of course it is."

"That is why I didn't call you."

"Because of the siren?"

"Because of the overreacting."

"Bones, you're in labor. I'm not overreacting I'm just…reacting."

"Have you run any red lights?"

"It's not technically running them if the siren's on."

"Turn the siren off, Booth."

"But…"

"Turn it off."

He did as he was told.

"It's off."

"Thank you." She closed her eyes to think. "How far away are you?"

"About twenty minutes now. It would have been less." He grumbled.

"Okay. I have no imminent need to go to the hospital, so if you come here…"

He cut her off. "No imminent need? Bones, I don't know if you've noticed, but you're having a baby. That sounds like an imminent need to me."

"What I am trying to say is that if you come here, I can't do this all day long."

"Okay, first of all, there is no _if_, alright? I'm already on my way over there. And second, can't do _what_ all day long?"

"This _thing _where you worry and hover and pester and pace while we wait. It is not time to go to the hospital. It will not be time for a while, so if you come here you have to be…normal."

"I am being normal."

"Then don't come."

"_WHAT?_"

"I mean it, Booth. I can't have you driving me crazy while we wait until it is actually time to go to the hospital. I'm simply here, in my office, doing some paperwork and research. Every twelve minutes or so I have to stop and do some breathing. Then it's over and I go back to work. When I get to the five to seven minute apart mark, I will gather my things and shut down my office and we will make our way to the hospital. There will be no panic, there will be no production. We will remain calm and collected. And if you cannot remain calm and collected and normal while we wait to get to that point, then _do not come here._" She spoke with deadly seriousness; with the plan of a woman who preferred to always be in control of any situation and she saw no reason at all why this event should be any different.

"Business as usual." Booth summarized.

"Yes, please." She was relieved he understood.

"Okay. I can do that." He swore silently to himself that he would try his best not to be a stereotypical panicked dad-to-be. "Can I get anything for you on my way in? Something to eat?"

"Maybe just some soup. But you should eat. If this is really it, it could be a while before you have the chance again."

"I will stop at the diner." He didn't want to. He wanted to drive straight to the Jeffersonian, scoop her up, carry her to the SUV and take her straight to the hospital. But he knew not to defy grumpy Bones on a regular day, much less today.

Baby Day.

"Then I will see you in a little while."

"Yep."

"And Booth?"

"Yeah, Bones?"

"I do want you here with me."

He grinned. "I'll be there soon." He hung up.

And turned on the siren.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading. Reviews are much appreciated.<em>


	18. Chapter 18

_Thanks again for the reviews, alerts and favorites. You guys make a writer's heart happy. Here we go…_

**Unexpected Variables-Chapter 18**

When Booth arrived in Brennan's office she was sitting at her desk, typing away. Other than looking a little flushed, she looked like she always did and for some reason that took him by surprise.

"Hey." He greeted, keeping it short so his panicked questions wouldn't tumble out of his mouth.

"Hi." She looked up from her keyboard. "You might want to eat fast."

"What?"

"Eat fast. The last two contractions have been a bit closer together."

"How much is a bit.?"

"Eight minutes apart."

"I thought you said they were twelve minutes!"

"Well, now they aren't. So you might want to eat quickly in case I continue to progress at a fast pace." She said, quite logically. "Oh!" She closed her eyes and did some short, puffy breathing.

Booth practically threw down the takeout containers and rushed to her side, but once he got there he wasn't quite sure what to do. Should he say something? Hold her hand? Breathe with her? He just didn't know.

So he simply crouched down next to her chair, one hand on her leg, and waited as she breathed through it. He could see her face relax and hear her breathing slow as she came out of the contraction.

She opened her eyes to find him next to her and smiled. "Eat." she said. "That was seven minutes."

"I'm not eating. We're going."

"It's fine Booth. I want to finish what I'm doing here. You eat while I complete this report and then we will go. I promise."

Booth stood and walked around to the other side of her desk and got down on his hands and knees.

"What are you doing?" She was very suspicious.

Her computer screen went blank and Booth stood triumphantly with the computer's plug in his hands.

"Booth! My report!"

"Angela can recover anything you lost later. We are going to the hospital, right now."

"Booth, please…"

"No. I'm not kidding here, Bones. I am not panicking, I am not freaking out. I am being normal. It is time to go."

"The doctor said five minutes apart, lasting one minute. That was seven minutes from the last one. You _are_ freaking out."

He dropped the plug and rubbed his hand over his face. He knew he couldn't win this, but he was sure if she had her way she'd wait far too long and their baby would be born at the Jeffersonian. And he'd be damned if their child was going to begin her life where dead people were the daily focus. He knew his only option was to compromise.

"At six minutes, we go."

"Fine. At six minutes, we will leave for the hospital." She agreed. "Now please plug my computer back in and eat your lunch."

Begrudgingly, he did as she asked. Munching on his sandwich he asked "What am I supposed to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you are having a contraction. What am I supposed to do? Do you want me hold your hand or, I don't know, rub your back or something?"

She found it incredibly endearing that he was vacillating between completely taking charge and being completely at a loss.

"Just being here is enough."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She took a small sip of soup. "Ah!"

Despite her assurances that being in the room was enough he went to sit beside her again. This time he found her right hand gripping the edge of her desk, and placed his hand over hers. She flipped her hand and grabbed onto his and they rode it out together.

"Okay." She breathed out. "Whew."

"Still seven?"

"Yes."

They went on that way for hours. Every seven minutes he would sit beside her and hold her hand while she huffed and puffed. And then he would ask:

"Still seven?"

And she would say "Yes."

By four thirty, with no real progress beyond those seven minute intervals, he dared to suggest that perhaps they should go home and wait it out. It was getting tricky, keeping various squinterns and colleagues unaware of what was happening.

"I think…yes. Let's go home."

"Okay, let's close this down and get out of here." He clapped his hands, grateful for some kind of forward motion.

She logged out of her computer, changed her voicemail message with clear instructions on who to contact in her absence, filed a few random pieces of paperwork and then sat stock still.

"What?" Booth was alarmed.

"I won't be here for a while."

"No, you won't."

"It's all really about to change." And for the first time she looked a little afraid.

"For the better, Bones."

"Mmmmm."

"Contraction?"

She nodded and he kneeled beside her once again, taking her hand. "You're doing so great, Bones. So great."

She opened her eyes at the end of her pain and said "Booth?"

"Hey, Baby." He brushed her hair off her cheek.

"That was only six minutes."

* * *

><p>They had made their way out of the Jeffersonian fairly quickly, partially because Booth was ready to move at the speed of light, but mostly because Brennan did not want to be crippled by a contraction in the middle of the lab. Behind her back Booth had given Hodgins a thumbs up signal, hoping the bug man could interpret it's meaning.<p>

Given that it was now nine forty at night and all their friends were camped out in the waiting room, he gathered that Hodgins had, indeed, figured it out.

"I'm so glad this child is a girl." She moaned coming out of a contraction.

"Why?" He smiled at her adoringly.

"Because now you will have a child of each gender and there is no need for you to ever expect me to do this again."

"Babe, just get the epidural."

"No. No. I can do this."

"I know you can, but nobody is handing out medals for natural child birth." He hated seeing her in pain and the contractions were coming fairly quickly now and they seemed to hurt more than ever.

"I have trekked through Tibet, I have climbed mountains, I have made my way through a rain forest with little more than a machete and a compass, I have fought off hostile natives with my bare hands. If Angela can do this, then so can I. I am much stronger than Angela."

"It's not a competition."

"I'm not getting the epidural."

He shut up before it became an argument because in the end he wouldn't win anyway.

* * *

><p>Just after eleven the nurse proclaimed her ready to push and left to call the doctor in.<p>

"Oh, thank God." gasped Brennan as another contraction hit.

Booth sent up a different, slightly more reverent thanks along with a prayer.

"Well, Temperance, I hear we are ready to have this baby." The doctor was jolly. Too jolly for Brennan.

"I don't know how ready _you_ are, but _I _am well past ready." She huffed grouchily.

"Fair enough." He chuckled.

"Booth?"

"Yeah, Bones?"

"We're really doing this aren't we?" Her eyes filled with tears.

"Yeah. We really are." He kissed her forehead.

"Alright, Temperance. Here we go. It's time to push."

* * *

><p>Two hours of pushing. Two hours and the littlest Booth still had not made her way into the world. Her mother was exhausted. She had circles under her eyes, her hair had curled from the perspiration and small tendrils had plastered themselves to her neck and face and forehead. She had a sheen of sweat on her neck and hairline and face was red from effort.<p>

To Booth, she had never been more beautiful.

"I can't. I can't do anymore." She shivered and was as close to sobbing as she could be without actually crying.

It frightened him a little. She'd never been one to give up. She had never sounded so defeated.

"Yes, you can, Bones. You can do this."

"No, I'm done."

"I don't think it works like that."

The doctor interjected. "Just a few more, Temperance, and you will meet your baby."

"You said that twenty minutes ago and ten minutes before that, too!" She was feisty now, and Booth was glad to hear it.

"And one of these times I'm bound to be right. Let's keep trying."

"I hate him." she said furiously to Booth.

"That's fine. Use that anger in your favor."

"Is that psychology? Because if you are going to start that, then I should just have Sweets come in here. At least he's a professional psychologist." She was not in the mood for anything that sounded even remotely like something Sweets would say.

"Here we go, Temperance. Push!" The doctor commanded.

She pushed with everything she had, squeezing Booth's hand.

"Again." ordered the doctor.

"No. I can't." She was crying now. "I'm sorry. I just can't."

"Yes, you can. Yes, you can, Bones." All Booth knew to do for her was be encouraging. He brushed a sticky curl off her forehead. "You are Temperance Brennan, the strongest, bravest, toughest woman I have ever known. You _can_ do this. This is the end. She's almost here. Nothing you have ever done will have a payoff as amazing and perfect as this. Just a few more pushes, Bones, and our little girl will be here. You _can _do this. I know it."

She nodded, hiccupping through her tears. "I can do this." She whispered.

"That's right. You can."

She pushed.

And again.

And again.

Until the beautiful wail of a newborn crying filled the room.

"It's a girl!" announced the doctor, holding her up for the new parents to see before cutting the cord and handing her to the nurse for weighing and testing.

"You did it." Booth kissed Brennan's head. "You did it."

"I did it." She was still struggling to catch her breath and control her emotions.

"7 pounds, 3 ounces" announced the nurse.

"Can I have her, please?" Brennan.

"I'm just wrapping her up." promised the nurse.

"Hurry." urged Brennan. "I want to hold her."

"Bones, she's so beautiful." Booth was teary eyed, his voice shaky as the nurse handed the bundled baby to Brennan.

"Oh…" Brennan couldn't find the words to say what her heart felt.

"Hey, there, Baby Girl. We've been waiting for you." Booth cooed quietly.

"Look at her." whispered Brennan. "She's amazing."

"She really is." He leaned the side of his head against the new mom's head as they both stared in wonder at their creation. "Thank you, Bones. Thank you for giving her to me."

But some things don't change. "I did not give her to you, Booth. She is a person. A tiny, tiny person, not a gift. She was created by the both of us, your sperm, my egg. I didn't give her to you. I merely endured an excruciating biological process in order to expel your daughter from my womb."

He smiled. "Our daughter, Bones. And she's the best gift you have ever given me. No doubt about it."

She smiled, too. "I know what you mean. And I should thank you, too. She really is perfect."

"That she is." He kissed both his girls. "That she is."

* * *

><p><em>But there are things unanswered, yes? That's what epilogues are for. Stay tuned…<em>


	19. Chapter 19

**Epilogue**

Upon reflection later they would say they spent the first ten years of their relationship adjusting.

First adjusting to working together, to being partners.

Then adjusting to being friends as well.

They adjusted to having feelings they weren't supposed to have.

They became more than partners, more than friends and that was an adjustment, too.

Then they had to adjust to being new parents.

Hadley Christine Booth was perfect. A tiny version of her mother except for her father's wicked grin, she charmed everyone she met, everywhere she went.

But she was an adjustment. Booth struggled to balance his two children without shorting either one, and in the process it was sometimes Brennan who got the short end of his time and attention. Brennan struggled to be sure she remained every bit the scientist she ever was, while being the best mother she could possibly be, and making sure that Parker never felt they didn't love him too. She was exhausted all the time, leaving her testy with Booth and the squinterns often quaked in their shoes when she called them out.

When Hadley was six months old, Auntie Angela insisted she was ready for a sleep over weekend with her favorite aunt and told Booth and Brennan to go away and not come back for forty-eight hours.

Most parents would hem and haw.

Booth and Brennan ran to the car.

Because in the end, no matter how difficult things got, they were each other's strength, each other's safe haven, each other's other half and they knew they needed to get back to that.

So they did. Teamwork, partnership had always been their thing and they quickly found that when they nourished their relationship, everything else became so much easier.

Enough to where on Hadley's first birthday, after the last party guest had left and the last new toy had been put away Brennan put her arms around Booth's neck and whispered in his ear "I would very much like to make another Hadley all over again with you."

Booth couldn't get their daughter in bed fast enough.

Two months and a lot of practice later she left a white envelope under his car keys for him to find when he left for an early morning meeting.

He'd had to double check with Cam, but he'd been correct when he'd realized the paper inside was blood test results that confirmed another Booth baby was on it's way.

More adjusting.

They bought a house to accommodate their growing family. They moved from the city to the suburbs.

They parented an almost teen and a toddler and acclimated themselves to the notion that their family was going to change again.

They were happy. More than happy. Enough that he rarely thought about the fact that they weren't married and she rarely worried that it bothered him. They were partners in every sense of the word.

Their second daughter was born just one month shy of Hadley's second birthday. She was every bit as perfect as her sister, but completely different, resembling her father but with her mother's stunning blue eyes.

And they were adjusting again. Twice the diapers, twice the chaos, twice the exhaustion, twice the effort.

But just like any other formula, any other equation, there were sometimes unexpected variables; things that crop up when you least expect them.

Brennan came downstairs from putting an exhausted newly two year old in bed. The house was strewn with discarded gift wrap and rapidly deflating balloons and cake remnants lay all over the table, swimming in spilled apple juice.

She found Booth asleep on the couch, a pink party hat askew on his head and the baby sleeping peacefully on his chest, one tiny hand gripping his t-shirt.

She surveyed the mess. She watched her baby and her Booth sleep. She had the life she'd never even known she'd always wanted.

And suddenly she realized that sometimes the things you think you know aren't true at all.

She went to her desk and turned on her computer, did a quick search and hit print. She folded the paper, scribbled on a Post-It note and stuck both in a plain white envelope.

She lifted the baby off of Booth and placed her in the cradle at the foot of their bed.

She taped the envelope to his mirror and went to bed, leaving the mess for the morning.

He'd stirred and resettled when she'd taken the baby, so he awoke an hour or so later to a dark house. Knowing she was exhausted too and feeling a little guilty for his nap, he cleaned up the mess before he went to bed.

It was when he went to brush his teeth that he saw the envelope.

Surprised, he remembered the other two times he'd gotten white envelopes from her and what they had meant.

He took a breath, a pause, before he opened it.

There was a white sheet of paper folded into threes.

A marriage license application for Washington DC.

And the only words on the Post It, in her precise, scientific handwriting were: "I know."

So he went and got the ring he'd had for years from the back of his gun safe and slipped it on her finger in the dark.

"Marry me?" he said simply.

"Yes." she answered him, equally simply.

It wasn't traditional. It wasn't grand. It wasn't over the top.

But it was them. Perfectly untraditional them.

He would say it was fate.

She would say that was ludicrous.

But they both knew it was right.

~end~

_I would love to hear your final thoughts. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I appreciate all of you who took the time to read my story and I have enjoyed reading your comments._


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